Titanium
by 22-fall-in-love
Summary: "Brand Mitchell, Do my eyes deceive me? Are you a Barden Bella? We're acapella dudes. We're gonna get aca-married, and have aca-children. It's inevitable." I'm going to kill you Chloe. Aubrey will kill me 'cause I'm actually straight, and Jesse will kill her, and Unicycle will kill him. But I can't kill Chloe. She's too...perfect. Dude, just kill me now. Male Beca.
1. The Shower

Sometimes, life doesn't go as planned. For Brand Mitchell, nothing ever has. Like in high school, when his mom's cat thought jumping in the dryer was an okay idea. Or at prom where he and his date ate Olive Garden, and the chicken landed them in the hospital for a week with food poisoning. Or when his dad left him and his mom for a hooker named Shiela.

He is used to it by now. So, when his dad forced him to go to Barden University, he thought it was just another bump in the road. He will go to L.A. after he proves to his dad college isn't for him. He lives to produce music. He wants to live the dream. But, unfortunately, he will have to wait.

All of this weighs on his mind as his cab pulls up onto Barden Campus.

_Finally_, the small DJ thinks as he steps out out of the cab. He takes off his headphones and stashes them in his bag as the cab driver opens the trunk, and some student starts to assist Brand with his bags.

"Don't touch my equipment!" he snaps. It came out a little harsher than he meant it, but no one touches his equipment.

He loads his bags onto a cart, and some bubbly blonde from the welcome committee stops him. "Hi!" she half shouts with what Brand hopes is a fake beam, "Welcome to Barden University! What dorm?"

"Barden Hall, I think," he says, averting his eyes.

Brand zones out of the directions she begins to give as a blue four door car pulls up blaring _Carry On My Wayward Son_. The tan burly dude in the backseat jams out to the music complete with air guitar, and his head bangs into the seat as the car pulls away. _Hope that guy is not my roommate. _.

"Official BU rape whistle. Don't blow it unless it's actually happening!" the blonde finishes with a bright smile.

"What?" _How many freaks are at this school? _"Uh, why do I need a rape whistle?" He asks with a disgusted frown. He takes the rape whistle by two fingers like it is a used tampon.

Welcome Committee's over exaggerated smile is replaced with an expression of impatience, "Now mister don't be sexist. Women can rape guys too. Then there's also anal rape." She says that all in her bubbly flight attendant voice.

Brand's eyes go wide. "Did you really just say that? You know what?I don't even know how to respond to that."

The DJ walks off shaking his head. _What kind of school is this?_

"Make sure you don't blow it unless it's actually happening! Nobody likes that!" Her shout comes from behind him, and he does his best to ignore her.

Brand finds the door to his dorm room ajar. "God please don't be a freak," he whispers to himself as he walks through the door coming face to face with his roommate. His eyes narrow, "I don't even know why I try," he sighs. Jesse, his roommate, is the Air Guitar guy.

"Hey, I know you Brandon. I sang to you. I remember because you were in a taxi. Is your dad a taxi driver?" he says happily, extending his hand.

_ "_Kansas guy, and it's just Brand," Brand says wearily, staring down at Jesse's outstretched hand. "Twenty questions already?" he asks taking his roommates hand._ This dude is way too friendly._

Jesse shrugs setting up the last of his side of the room. His wall is covered with movie posters, and Brand can't help, but frown. _Why do people even like movies?They are so boring._

"No, my dad is not a taxi driver," Brand replies dropping his bag on the bed as he begins to set up his music equipment. "And I have one rule." The DJ turns back to his much taller roommate. "My music is everything to me, so please don't touch it."

Jesse nods, "I'm going to head down to the activities fair. Do you want to come with?" he asks, gesturing to the door.

_No chance in hell. _For a DJ, Brand is not a social person. It's easier that way. He just shakes his head, saying he had to set up the rest of his equipment which is true. His roommate finally leaves, and the short alternative guy breathes a sigh of relief.

He is just beginning to play the mix he has been working on when a knock at the door scares him out of his skin.

"This is campus police. Hide your wine coolers." The door opens to reveal Dr. Mitchell, a comparative literature teacher at Barden University.

"Dad," Brand dismisses, turning back to the computer screen.

"Well, I thought it was funny," says Dr. Mitchell cheerfully, glancing around the empty room. "Where's your roommate?"

"Activities fair," his son says, trying to concentrate on his work.

"So when did you get here? How did you get here?" the professor interrogates.

"Took a cab. Didn't want to inconvenience you and the prostitute. How is the step monster?"

"For the last time Brand, she's a sales manager."

The DJ scoffs, "Same difference."

"And for your information, she is fine. She's actually in Vegas at a conference-"

"Oh no, Dad. I don't actually care," Brand says, putting a box away, " I just wanted to say step monster."

The professor puts his tongue in his cheek, not wanting to fight with his son. He tries to mask his guilt with a smile, but Brand sees right through it. "So, uh" he says, hastily changing the subject, "Have you been out on the quad yet? In the spring the students go out and study on the grass-"

"I don't want to study on the grass, Dad. I want to move to L.A. and get a job at a record label, and start paying my dues."

"You know Brand, DJing is not a profession. It's a hobby. Unless you're Rick Dees or somebody awesome."

"Not a radio DJ, Dad. A music producer. You might want to know the difference," Brand huffs, unpacking his last box, and he heads toward the door, "I'm going to the activities fair." And with that, he leaves, leaving his stunned father alone in the empty dorm room.

Walking through the numerous booths, all Brand can wish is that his dad would just screw off. _ It's my life, and he didn't want an interest in it before. Why does he have to interfere now?_

"This is a travesty! If we can't even recruit bologna Barb, then we can't get anybody!" A little up ahead of him, an anxious looking redhead girl paces up and down her booth. She's freaking out at her blonde friend who looks as if she has a stick up her butt. Sensing a cat fight, he stops at the booth beside theirs and pretends to look interested in a flier.

Her hot blonde friend tries to come to the rescue, "Just take the dramatics down a little, okay?" she tries to hand a flier out to a group of girls who ignore her.

"You're the one who got us into this hot mess!" the redhead girl fires back. She clutches the clipboard tighter to her chest, and walks to the front of the booth to stand next to her blonde friend.

"It'll be fine." The blonde turns away. "I am confident," she says louder with one of those girly hand motions "That we can find eight super hot girls with bikini ready bodies who can harmonize in perfect pitch."

Brand can't help snorting at that. The blonde glares at him "Excuse me, is something funny?"

The shorter DJ shrugs. The ginger girl however, meets his eyes and gets a light bulb look. She whispers, "What about swim trunk ready guys?" to her friend, but Brand doesn't catch that sentence.

He just raises an eyebrow when the blonde one starts having a cow about, "Bellas" and not "Edwards."

The redhead walks up to him, "Any interest in joining our acapella group?"

_So that's what this is about. _ "That's a thing?" he asks.

"Oh totes," the redhead says happily while the blonde is giving her a 'shut up now' look. "We sing covers of songs, but we do it without any instruments. It's all from our mouths." She points to her mouth with her pen.

"Yikes." _Not joining this group._

"There's four groups on campus, and we're the best!" she tells Brand like it's the best thing in the world. This chick is almost as peppy as Welcome Committee. "Any interest?"

"Sorry, it's pretty lame," he replies.

"What did you just say?" the blonde says, not bothering to hide her anger.

"P.M.S.?" Brand smirks his famous smirk at the redhead, gesturing to the blonde.

The blonde's mouth is hanging wide open, obviously offended, and sensing danger, her friend cut in. She grabs Brand's arm, "Our dream is to win nationals. Help us turn our dreams into reality?"

He steps away from her, not liking people touching him. "Sorry, I don't even sing, but it was really nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Chloe." the redhead girl mutters as the shorter freshman walks away. She feels oddly disappointed.

"Brand," he says back as he heads to another booth.

"What the hell, Chloe?!" her blonde friend fumes. "He's a guy."

She looks longingly down where the freshman is signing up for an internship at a radio station. "Maybe we need something different."

Just then, a chubby girl bounds up to them and curtsies , "My name's Fat Amy."

"You call yourself Fat Amy?"

A month later

Brand finds himself elatedly singing Titanium as he walks to the shower. His dad is going to help him move to L.A., and all he has to do is join a club for a year. A year, and he'll be out to L.A! Today cannot get any better.

He throws off his clothes, starts the shower, and belts it. " I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away! Fire away! Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away! Fire Away!"

"You can sing!"

"DUDE!" He jumps a foot in the air, and attempts to cover himself with the shower curtain. It's the redhead from the activities fair. Naked. In his shower. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? _She's hot. Dude, stop looking at her! _He turns his back to her. What is wrong with his friggin' school?  
"How high does your belt go?"

_ Nakedness_. "My what?" he asks breathlessly, shielding his eyes.

"You have to audition for the Bellas," she says._ This girl has absolutely no concept of personal space._

Brand looks up at the shower head trying not to focus on the hot naked senior in front of him. "I can't c-concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk," he stares into her in her bright blue eyes and back up at the ceiling. _ That's one sexy ceiling. That pattern just takes my breath away._ There_ is no naked senior in my shower. It's just me and this ceiling. _

He tried to distract himself, but the ceiling doesn't help. "Just consider it. One time we sang back up for Prince. His butt is so tiny I can fit it in like one hand."

_"_Is now a really good time to be discussing someone's butt?" Brand asks, looking down at his feet. _Wonder how her butt feels in one hand. Stop it, Brand. You're such a pervert. I'm going to die. Why do they even have co-ed showers here? That's not a good idea. _His bar of soap slips out of his hand and hits the floor. He turns his back to her.

"Seriously?" she asks.

"I am nude," he says, feeling as if he is about to vomit.

"You were singing Titanium right?" she asks.

His eyes light up. She knows his idol. He turns his head to look her in the eyes with a half smile, "You know David Guetta?"

"Have I been living under a rock?" Chloe says sarcastically, "Yeah. That song's my jam, my lady jam," She gives Brand an innocent smile. _She is killing me right now._

"Okay," The short DJ snaps. His tone becomes serious, almost desperate, "You have to go. Now." He smashes himself as far as he can against the wall, trying to keep his breathing steady.

"The song really builds." She winks at him.

Brand blinks. _Are you trying to get raped? No wonder this school needs rape whistles. If I was any other guy, it would've happened already._

"Will you sing it for me?" she asks.

"What no. Ew. Get. Out. Are you trying to get raped?" he asks.

A look of disgust appears on her face. "Not for that reason. I'm not leaving here until you sing so..."

Brand claps a hand to his forehead, and Chloe takes a long breath, standing there. Naked. Like she will never go away._ Oh no, I'm going to have to sing naked to someone. Who I don't know. In the shower. Good thing? Bad thing? The jury is still out on that one._

"I'm bullet proof

Nothing to lose "

She joins in, harmonizing with Brand's tenor voice.

They stare into each other's eyes, and it suddenly becomes less awkward. Brand can't seem to stop staring into those haunting blue eyes._  
_

"Fire Away!

Fire Away!

Ricochet

You take your aim

Fire Away

Fire Away

Shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium

Shoot me down, but I won't fall

I am titanium."

Wow. Brand has never sang a duet with someone before, let alone with a naked super hot girl.

They smile at each other.

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty confident about all this," she gestures at her body. Her naked body.

He smiles awkwardly, "You should be."

There's a long pause, and they just stare at each other, naked. Chloe hands him a towel, and they just linger there, grinning at each other.

Brand leans in. Their faces are inches from each other. Brand feels her hot breath on his face. She moves in even closer, if that is possible.

"What the -?" an angry voice booms.

The small DJ takes in the heavily muscled senior. He looks awkwardly at Chloe. "I'm sorry," he chokes out, and he bolts, pulling his towel around his waist. The freshman DJ runs through the dorms, dodging people as they laugh.

AN: So this one erupted out of pure boredom. Please tell me what you think:DDDD Comments are appreciated.


	2. That's What You Do

**AN: So thanks to all who reviewed, favorited, and followed. They make my day. I can only hope this chapter lives up to everyone's expectations. You might kill me for Chloe's high school history, but I couldn't help myself. You'll see why. Enjoy.**  
**Chapter 2: That's What You Do.**

"I can't believe you are letting a _male_ audition!"

"His voice is beautiful. You'll see," Chloe soothes, trying to avoid conflict. She rubs her best friends arm, but she's not having it.

"He has a penis!" Aubrey shrieks.

"So?" the redhead asks, going red.

"Chloe, your toner is showing. Put it out. Now." The redhead looks offended, "You have crushes on all the wrong guys. I don't like his attitude, and he sounds like that John Tucker guy from your high school."

"Brand is nothing like John Tucker!" Chloe shouts._ At least I pray he's not. I can't handle another one._

"He sure sounds like it. He probably just wants to join the Bellas to hook up with girls," Aubrey says snidely, flopping on her sofa.

"He's gay!" The defensive lie comes out of Chloe's mouth before she can say anything else. She wishes Brand Mitchell was gay, but from what she saw yesterday, she knows he's bi or straight. She doesn't want to admit it, but she has a crush on the freshman. What's wrong with her? Chloe Beale does not date younger guys. She knows why, though. _He's not like Tom._ Brand's a gentleman, and though snarky at times, he's ultimately kind. Tom blatantly checks her out. Though it was hard for him, the freshman politely attempted to avert his eyes to the ceiling. He is a mystery hidden behind smoldering dark blue eyes and gauges that Chloe can't seem to crack.

Aubrey Posen sighs, "If he really is gay, then I'll make an exception-" Her words are met with Chloe's squeal. "-if he's as good as you say he is."

The red head engulfs her best friend in a bone crushing hug. "Oh he totes is. We sang Titanium together, and-"

Aubrey eyes her with suspicion, "You sang your lady jam with him?"

Choe blushes hard. "He's a fan of David Guetta?" she offers. It comes out more like a question._ At least she doesn't know we were naked together in a shower._

Jesse Swanson is sprawled out his bed watching some Harry Potter movie. He lets out a content sigh as one of the characters gets a pig's tail. If he could get anymore relaxed, Brand would swear his roommate was at a spa. It is getting on his nerves.

The DJ runs his hand through his short floppy brown hair nervously as he paces back and forth across his dorm room. He almost kissed that Chloe girl. He could feel her minty hot breath on his face. And he liked it.

That's what scares him. He's going to be in L.A. In a year. He can't afford to get attached. That is like naming your turkey before you have to slaughter it for Thanksgiving. It's cruel. It's not good to let anyone in anyway. When you do, it ends badly. They end up leaving you for some hooker or 'sales manager' as his dad likes to call her. He can't afford to let someone else in and get hurt all over again.

But the alt guy needs to get into the Bella's. It's his answer to getting to L.A. The almost kiss didn't mean anything anyway. She's a senior. He's a freshman. Nothing will happen. Plus, being around chicks all the time is a little taste of the big city before he gets there. Being around Chloe is just a bonus, just as long as he doesn't get attached. No nicknames. No touching. No sex, not that he has ever done that before. But he isn't going to admit that to anyone. It would ruin his brooding reputation. He takes a deep breath, trying to lower his racing heart. Just thinking about that girl gets him worked up.

"Brand, don't get your panties in a wad. What's wrong with you?" his roommate asks. "You need to calm down." Brand's wide jaw clenches.

"You have no authority over me," he snaps, falling onto his bed.

The movie addict sits up in concern, "Is this about a Capella auditions?"

_Sort of._ He rolls over to face Jesse, resting his head on his hand. Brand nods.

"Don't worry. You'll do fine. I'm auditioning for the Trebles as well with my friend Benji. We can be aca-dudes together!" Brand can't help rolling his eyes at his roommate's excitement.

"Oh no, I'm not auditioning for the Trebles. I'm auditioning for the Bellas," the DJ mutters, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jesse's eyebrow arches as stands up. "I didn't know you played for that team." Brand's roommate gets creepily close to his face. That's only okay when Chloe does it. The DJ flips out and backs toward the wall. He tries to protest, but Kansas guy cuts his protests off, "I play for both. " he whispers, his statement is tainted with seduction. Brown eyes meet dark blue ones, and Jesse's face pulls away. He walks out the door, wishing Brand good luck with auditions.

_Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?_ The stocky blue eyed freshman gapes at the door his self-proclaimed bisexual roommate just walked through. My roommate is a freak. Brand doesn't care that Jesse is bi, but that he is making unwanted sexual advances on him. Jesse didn't even listen when Brand tried to protest.

The alternative guy looks down at his watch. 1:03p.m.

_Oh crap. Crap. Crap. Crap._ Brand throws on a blue plaid over-shirt and runs out the door.

The DJ ,true to himself, walks in late more awkward than he thought humanly possible as Fat Amy finishes singing, "Since You've Been Gone," which Brand doesn't know the words to.

"Oh wait there's one more," Chloe lights up as she catches Brand's eye. He responds with one of his signature smirks.

" Hey, so uh, I didn't know we were supposed to prepare that song."

"That's okay," Chloe says a little too quickly, but it goes right over the freshman's head. "Sing anything you want."

Brand's heart starts to beat fast as he bends down on his knees to grab the cup on the desk by Chloe. "May I?" he asks, gesturing to the plastic cup.

"Sure," she replies with a grin. He empties the cup and sits down cross-legged in front of Chloe and Aubrey on the stage.

Brand knows what he's going to sing at once as he returns her smile. He tries not to stare at her when he starts to sing , but it happens anyway. He starts singing right to her.

"I got my ticket for the long way 'round..."

He is basically serenading the Barden co captain, and Jesse is fuming. Everyone can see it, but as Brand's auditioning for the Bellas, everyone thinks he's gay. They don't see it as serenading. They see it as a friendly gesture.

"Oh, I know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Brand finishes relieved. He never thought his face could get this hot. He stares at his crush with a wide smile and winks. _She's so beautiful._

Aubrey turns to her redhead friend in defeat, "He's as good as you say he is." Chloe can't help it. She flies at her best friend, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Okay," the captain says, composing herself, "Keep your gay freshman toner on the down low, Chlo." Chloe nods and Brand gives her a thumbs up.  
_

Jesse and Brand are in the radio station shelving records and stacking cds; an awkward silence is between them. Which is way better then conversation, especially in the vicinity of a sex covered desk. The DJ isn't complaining, but he can't stop smiling. Chloe loved his audition. He starts humming Titanium, the song he can't seem to keep out of his head now.

"So-" Brand tenses at his roommates words. He really thought he was going to be able to get through this shift without conversation. "Titanium?"

Brand nods, putting a Sir Mix A Lot cd on the shelf. "It's my favorite song." _Has been since a redhead with no boundaries invaded my shower._

"Never pegged you for a David Guetta person," Jesse says.

"He's one of the best music producers in the world. Of course I like him."

"So why the Bellas? You know you'll have to hate me right? Unicycle has a huge crush on the captain Aubrey, but can't act on it because of the feud," Jesse tells his roommate.

"That's not right," Brand says. "Rivalries have no point." _They fight over bragging rights. It's ridiculous. Aubrey will be a joy._

"That's what I said. I told him to at least try this year."

The DJ nods. "I won't hate you Jesse." He doesn't get a response, so he goes back to humming his favorite song. Everything goes black as someone sticks what feels like a bag over his head. An all too familiar laugh rings out.

"Hi Chloe," he says with a laugh.

"How did you know?" The DJ can just imagine the pout on her face.

Brand laughs even harder. "Your giggle is adorable." Her warm hands grab his and she guides him in the way he's supposed to walk. He winces as he made it a rule not to touch, but her touch feels so good. He lets it slide.

"Don't tell Aubrey. It's supposed to be a secret," she says happily.

"Alright."

"So, Titanium?" she asks in his ear. Her breath gives him goosebumps.

"I can sing it for you sometime if you like," he flirts back, following her lead. She just scoffs at him. He grins under the bag. "You know you liked it."

"So about the Bellas," She starts guiltily, " I may have told Aubrey a lie to get her to let you join... Your oath will be a little different. "

The Bella initiates gather round Chloe and Aubrey at their initiation site. He's gonna kill Chloe. He. Is. Not. Gay.

"We shall begin by drinking the blood of the sisters that came before you," says Aubrey, taking a large goblet.

Chloe hands the goblet to Brand who's face is contorted in disgust, "Dude, no."

The irresistible redhead winks, "Don't worry. It's Boone's Farm." The more he looks at her, the harder it becomes to be angry.

The DJ says his 'special' oath with the rest of his fellow sisters, "I, Branddddddd promise to fulfill the duties responsibilities of a Bella dude, and I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker, and in my case women, or may my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves."

"Ladies and Brandon," Aubrey says, leading the initiates down stone steps outdoors, "Welcome to aca-initiation night."

"Brandonnnn, Brandon Mitchell," Jesse climbs the steps toward his roommate, "Do my eyes deceive me? Are you a Barden Bella?We're both acapella dudes. We're gonna get aca-married and have aca-children. It's inevitable. "_ I'm going to kill you Chloe. Aubrey will kill me 'cause I'm actually straight. Then, Jesse will kill her, and Unicycle will kill him. But I can't kill Chloe. She's too...perfect. Dude, just kill me now._

"Wow, you're drunk," Brand says with a fake laugh, looking for a way out.

"No I'm not drunk. You're just blurry," he retorts.

"Are you alright?" The smaller freshman asks his roommate because he stumbled a bit.

"I'm fine. Can I get you a drink?" he asks hopefully.

"Surrrre you do that," the DJ says knowing he'd go away for at least a few minutes. It will give him time to plan his escape.

Brand is pleasantly surprised as Chloe jogs up the steps toward him, "Hi," she says, pulling him by both arms to her nose. Heart pounding, he can't do anything but grin. She leans in until their noses are touching. Her hot minty breath reaches his face, "I'm so glad I met you. I think that we're gonna be really fast friends." If Aubrey wouldn't kick him out, he would've kissed her right then and there. _You're killing me Chlo _. He doesn't pull away in hopes that she will kiss him. _No nicknames. You can't like her._

But she doesn't. "Yeah," he says with his smirk. He winks, "Well, you saw me naked so..."

She rubs up and down his arms, "Alright, well I'm going to go get a drink. This ginger needs her giggle juice." She does a very entertaining butt dance that leaves Brand blushing, "See ya later!"

"Make good choices!" he calls after her.

Seeing Jesse, Brand dashes over to Fat Amy and Aubrey, "Which one do you think it is?"

"My money's on black beauty," Fat Amy says, directing her eyes to Cynthia Rose blatantly staring at Stacie's boobs.

"What are we talking about?" he asks, butting into their conversation .

"Cynthia Rose's sexual orientation, gay boyyy," Fat Amy says. He winces at the nickname, but figures he better get used to it.

"Ahhhh," The freshman says before walking away, dodging Jesse again.  
_

A few hours later

"Oh heyyyyyy," Chloe slurs,wrapping her warm arms around his neck. He allows this touch too. He won't admit it, but he can't get enough of her touch, "Brannd, I haven't seen you all night."

"Are you alright?"

She grabs the collar of his shirt, "You arrrre so much m-more caring than Tom." She's so drunk her blue eyes have lost their twinkle.

"That's the alcohol talking," he says, his face getting hot. He rubs the back of his neck.

"Can you take me home?" she stumbles, getting close to his nose again. _Oh no, not again._

"Where do you live?" he asks. _I'll just drop her off. I don't want her to get raped around here. Then, I'll leave_, he tries to convince himself.

"It's only a couple blocks." Brand carefully wraps her arm around his shoulder, and helps her home.

"This doesn't look like you made good choices," he tells her.

"You would doooo the same thing if you were me." He fingers creep down his shirt.

He grabs her hand, "You're drunk. You have to stop."

"Why," she whispers as they reach her door, her lips brushing his ear. "We both know you like it." _Please stop. I'm begging you _. He shrugs her off. _Think about something else like the doormat. Well huh, that doormat looks spiky._

"Gooodnight Chloe," he says, turning around. A hand grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him inside. "Chlo," he groans. _No nicknames idiot._

"Come cuddle with mee," she says, dragging him toward her bedroom clumsily .

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea," the shorter guy says. His breath hitches. _So not good, Brand. Do something. Mayday._ He really wants to, but he can't. He can't get attached. That, and Aubrey would kill him.

"But it will help me sleep if you're here," he hates that pout, everything about it.

_Screw it_. There's no place he'd rather be, and there's no way he is going back to his room just for Jesse to hit on him again.

The room screams Chloe. Zebra sheets, music posters, and photos of cities. That's all he gets to see though, because she pulls him onto the bed with her. She snuggles up to him, laying her beautiful head onto his chest. _We really did become fast friends. _"I can hear your heart. It's beating suuuper fast." _  
_

"Yeah," he murmurs, knowing there's no way she'll remember this in the morning, "That's what you do," he whispers as he wraps his left arm around her torso, pulling her in closer, and he throws the blanket over them both.

Brand has fallen. He let her through his walls. He nicknamed her. He let her touch him. He's attached, and he can't act on it because, 'his vocal chords will be ripped out by wolves.' He lets out a sigh, _I'm so screwed_.

AN: Do you guys want to kill me? This one made my Bechloe feels go crazy. Hopefully, it wasn't too cheesy. :DDD I hope you all liked/loved/ got a toner from it :p


	3. The Dead Body

**AN: Thank you all so much for all the reviews, faves, and follows. You all are awesome, and have really been cheering me up. P.S. I'll usually be updating at night. Oh, and I don't own Pitch Perfect if you haven't figured that out.**

**HINT: There will be more Jesse/Brand interaction in the next chapter. This is just about the Bellas bonding.**

Chapter 3: The Dead Body

"ACA-SCUSE ME!" Aubrey Posen screeches. In a burst of anger, she rips the zebra-striped covers off her co-captain's bed.

Brand Mitchell springs upright, covering his ears. "Where the hell's the fire?"

Chloe Beale is thrown to the floor with an "Umph." She is surprisingly unstirred and still asleep. _She must be so used to Aubrey's shrill yell at ungodly hours that it doesn't faze her._ _Either that_, Brand reasons, _or she has a major hangover._

Brand yawns, smirking up at the disheveled blonde at the end of his friend's bed. Her make-up is ruined; her hair is barely brushed, and her feet are dirty like she took off her high-heels to walk somewhere. "You just took a walk of shame! Where were you? Spi-"

"Why are you in my best friend's bed?!" she shouts. She grabs him by the shirt collar, bringing him so close to her face he can smell vomit.

"Because we slept together, duhhh," comes his snarky reply before he can think about what just came out of his mouth, "I mean—"

A high pitched noise that sounds like a cross between a crying baby and a dying cow comes from Aubrey's mouth as she flings him back on the bed, "You took an oath!"

"That oath was serious?" Brand quizzes, leaning back on his hands. This is fun. He should argue with Aubrey more often.

"Dixie Chicks serious." Brey says, putting her hands on her hips.

"Whhhhat's going on?" Chloe asks tiredly, standing up. She stumbles and leans into the wall. She holds her head. It looks as if her night out drinking earned her a throbbing headache. _She looks so cute when she's tired. Shut it, Mitchell!_

"He took advantage of you, Chloe!" she slinks over to hug her red-head friend.

"But Breyyy, we didn't-" she starts, shrugging off Aubrey's motherly embrace.

The blonde's furious glare is back on Brand. He jumps to his feet and steps away from the senior he fears might tear his head off. The freshman composes himself with a loud laugh, "Um, we literally slept together. No sex. Dude, I don't even know Chloe's major. Besides, I'm gay remember?" he lies. Then, it hits him. He cringes as he looks in horror at Aubrey. He was in Chloe's bed, and he doesn't even _know _her. He throws the covers off him, and gapes at the bed. He cuddled with a stranger last night. For all he knew, she could have drugged him and chopped his head off. _What am I doing here?_ He grabs his hair with both hands. _I am an idiot. Who does that? _He looks back and forth between Chloe and Aubrey.

"You doing alright?" his red-head friend asks, moving to touch his shoulder.

"I think he's in shock," Aubrey giggles, looking to her best friend. _Who knew she could giggle?_ "I think he's realizing he doesn't really know either of us."

"I think I'm just going to go," Brand says quickly. He makes sure he doesn't make eye contact as he begins to walk away.

Chloe throws both arms around his shoulders, and gives him a goofy grin, "Nahhh, we have rehearsal in a few hours any way. How bout you and I watch a movie?" As much as Brand hates movies, he decides he'll make an exception. He forgets all about wanting to leave. Her finger brushes his nose, causing him to shudder. Warmth floods through his chest. Why does that touch affect him so much? "My major is pre-med, and I want to become a doctor. I'll be going to grad school here, too." He smiles about to tell her his—but- The uptight blonde coughs to make her two teammates acknowledge her.

"_Chloe_," she says pointedly. The ginger drops her arms from around Brand. He finds himself missing her touch; he pinches himself to make it stop, but it doesn't work. "I think he needs to go."

He scoffs at her, and she lets out an enraged sigh. Her mouth opens and closes a few times. "Why did you sleep here?" she interrogates at last.

The DJ shrugs, "Drunk Chloe insisted on cuddling, and I didn't want to have to charge Drunk Jesse for sexual harassment."

"What?" Chloe asks, bursting out laughing. "Did I really?"

"You get really touchy when you're drunk," he informs, before turning to Aubrey, "Anyway, why didn't you come home last night?" Her mouth twitches upward; Brand's jaw drops, "YOU were so with Unicycle, weren't you?!" He throws it back in her face, "Hey, you took an oath!"

"FOR your information all we did was cuddle! I don't break my oaths!" she snaps, throwing a pillow at his face. "You know what?" she asks, throwing up her hands, "I'm going for a run. See you two at rehearsals!"

Aubrey must not have told her best friend anything about Unicycle because Chloe's mouth drops open, "Brey-"

"Just drop it, okay?!" The captain of the Bellas stomps into her room. There is a scraping of drawers as she grabs her workout clothes; Chloe and Brand hear the door to the apartment slam shut.

The two new friends stand there in stunned silence.

After a few minutes, the redhead walks to the coach and plops down on it. The closet-straight freshman follows after her. She turns on the T.V. to one of her favorite shows: _Bones._

"Wanna play twenty questions to get to know each other?" Chloe asks, laying her head onto Brand's lap. He looks down into her hypnotizing blue eyes and can't say no.

After the game, Brand feels comfortable about cuddling with Chloe Beale last night . She is an open book. Everything about her is a ray of sunshine. She is a natural blonde, and her favorite color is red. She wants to move to the big city where the constant sounds of traffic can lull her to sleep, because she hates silence. She has a lady bug tattoo. Her mom moved her around constantly, so she wants to settle in one city and stay there. She loves old bands, one of the reasons she joined the Bellas. She is a sucker for poetry, is a dog person, and loves tacos. She thinks her mom is hotter than her, to which Brand disagrees.

Brand told her a fair share of things about himself as well. Now, she won't rest until she hears his mixes and makes him watch Disturbia because it doesn't have a predictable ending. According to her, you don't really know what's going on until half an hour into it.

After an hour and a half of the intriguing show about forensic anthropology and murder, Brand and Chloe are arguing.

"Come on, Chloe," he pouts, "Let me see a picture of you blonde."

"Not in a million years, Shorty," she retorts, hopping up from the couch. "We better get to rehearsal before Aubrey has our vocal chords ripped out by wolves.

"Fine," Brand huffs, following her across campus, "And I'm not that short."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yep."

"Am not."

"Are too…."

"I beg to differ."

"Shut up, both of you!" Aubrey shouts as they walk into rehearsal right on time. "Sopranos in the front. Altos and Tenor in the back."

"You sure you're gay, Brandi," The girl who calls herself Fat Amy announces with a new nickname for the DJ. "You and ginger are havin' some serious eye sex over there."

Her comment leaves both of them blushing furiously. Brand sticks his tongue out at Amy as he takes his seat in the back.

"As you can see," Aubrey says, removing a seat from the front row, "Corey is not here. Last night she was Treble-boned. She has been dis-invited from the Bellas."

Yep. Brand knows that oath is apparently Dixie Chicks serious, whatever that is supposed to mean.

"You can fool around with whoever you want, just not a Treble," she says, walking to the middle of them.

"That's not gonna be easy. He's a hunter," The very sexual girl named Stacie says, pointing to her junk.

Brand almost chokes on his own spit, "You call it a dude?"

She glances back at him and smirks. "Stacie," Aubrey calls attention to the brunette who is checking out the 'gay' freshman. "The Trebles don't respect us, and if we let them penetrate us, we are giving them our power."

Fat Amy raises her hand, "Not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate." Brand really does choke on his own spit this time. Lily smacks the laughing and sputtering DJ on the back.

"Soo," says Aubrey, "Does anyone have anything they would like to confess?"

The soprano with short brown hair and glasses did have something to confess. Aubrey publicly humiliates her and makes her drag her chair out of the room.

She tells Brand, 'This is war,' before having to choke down vomit.

There's an exchange, and they all watch Aubrey puke at last year's ICCA's.

All Brand knows after that, is that Lily knows where a dead body is, and she didn't call the cops.

From vocal exercises to running, or horizontal running in Fat Amy's case, Aubrey has them all exhausted.

"Okay, I'm calling it."

_Rehearsal is great. Aside from having to learn this stupid choreography from that video. _Brand thinks as he chugs the rest of his water. Chloe would touch him and show him how to do the choreography when he did it wrong. He did it wrong a lot, maybe for that reason. His dancing looked remarkably similar to Cynthia Rose's, Amy couldn't stop touching her stomach, Stacie dances like a prostitute and runs while holding her boobs, and it seems like Lily was the only one who got it all down. Brand can't understand why Aubrey wants to change them.

_We have a lot of promise in this group if she would stop trying to change us, and I am so not wearing a bandanna. I'm not Freddie Jones from Scooby-Doo. I'll buy a yellow tie or something._ Needless to say, Aubrey is frustrating.

" Don't forget to pick up your schedules. We have a gig next week at the fall mixer. Be ready."

They botch her Bellas hands in, hype up thing, and she is really angry. _Wow, this really is like Scooby-Doo. We even have to sing the creepy ancient music._

"Woo! First Rehearsal done!" Stacie sings, kicking her feet to her butt, "Party at my dad's place. He's on vacation in the Dominican Republic, and I'm not taking you to my dorm because of my psycho Korean roommate. She seriously won't say a word to me!"

"I'm so in!" says Fat Amy. "PARTAY!" Brand starts to follow.

"Brand, a word," Aubrey pulls him back.

He sighs, "What now, Mom?"

She wiggles her finger in his face, "You know you'll have to remove those ear monstrosities before the fall mixer, correct?"

"It's either these or holes, not my finest moment," he mutters "You really don't like me do you?"

"I don't like your attitude," she sasses, crossing her arms.

"You don't even know me."

"I know you have a toner for Jesse," Brand's eyes widen and he starts to laugh.

"A what?" He grins, laughing harder.

"A musical boner. I saw it last night. It's distracting," she retorts.

"Hmmm," He rests his hand on his chin in fake contemplation, "Are you forgetting the part where I woke up in your apartment with my hands _all _over Chloe?" he smirks, "I liked it, too." He glances at Chloe to see her radish colored face.

"You're homosexual. You took an oath."

"So did you," Brand sings, turning around to go join the girls who were waiting outside, listening the whole time.

XOXOXOXOX

Every single one of the Bellas, minus Aubrey are at Stacie's house, trashed. Everyone but Brand. He will never ever get drunk around these people. When he's drunk, he starts getting personal, spilling everything people ask him to spill. Cynthia Rose's hands are on Stacie's hips as they dance to _Starships_, although Stacie isn't dancing with Cynthia Rose. She's practically feeling herself up. Lily is crab-walking on the floor while Amy is busy raiding the fridge. Denise is crying on Ashley and Jessica for some reason. Brand is busy drinking water, staring into Chloe's blue eyes. She takes his hand, "Come dance with me." He can't lie. He is having the time of his life.

"TRUTH OR DARE PITCHES!" Fat Amy bellows, sitting down shots and sandwiches, as they all got in a circle on the floor.

"Awe come on, no! That game is juvenile," the DJ protests. Then, he realizes he's in a group of girls whose inhibitions have gone down a lot, and they have the maturity level of twelve year olds.

"Too bad, Brandi. You're doin' it." Fat Amy slurs, using the nickname she used earlier.

Chloe pulls him down into the circle of girls. "You first, Truth, Dare, or Shot?"

Brand rolls his eyes, "Dare." He says, knowing he's not getting drunk, and he's not telling anyone anything personal. Dare is the only safe option.

"Great, I dare you to eat the concoction I give you," she bounds to the kitchen, and the rest of us follow.

"Fine."

Fat Amy and Denise fill a small shot glass with ranch dressing, pickle juice, milk, hot sauce, mustard, and chocolate syrup, before handing it to Brand. "Bottoms up, Shorty," Chloe giggles.

He shakes his head, "You guys will be the death of me." He holds his nose, and drinks it. Starting to cough and gag, he runs to the sink. "Water, water," he chokes.

"Here," Jessica hands him a red solo cup, and he drains it.

"Thanks," he gasps, putting his hand over his mouth, "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted." He gives Chloe an annoyed look, "Truth or Dare, Chloe Beale."

"Truth."

He really wants to ask her if she would kiss him, but decides on something really random because the first option is not safe.

"What is worst thing you've ever done?"

"I made a guy scale a building twenty stories up in my thong. Does that count?" She puts her arms around Brand, laying her head on his shoulder.

"WHAT?!" they all ask.

"You wanted the truth," she shrugs.

"I'm not ticking you off, ever," Brand chuckles.

"Stacie," she says, changing the subject. "Truth, Dare, or Shot."

"Shot!" she howls, her hands to the ceiling, as she drains more alcohol. _How are you not in the hospital with alcohol poisoning yet? Wow. I'm impressed._

"Lily," Stacie says, "Truth, Dare, or Shot?"

Her lips move, but no words come out.

"What?" they all ask getting closer to her mouth.

"I said dare," she whispers irritably.

Stacie tries to say something, but Brand cuts her off. "I dare you to take us to that dead body."

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Lily drags them all out into the middle of the woods behind the dorm rooms. In the dark and cold. With only phones as flashlights. Brand doesn't care, though. Chloe holds his hand the whole way there. He has to remind himself it doesn't mean anything because she's drunk. Twenty minutes of walking, and the stench becomes unbearable. He has to admit he's getting increasingly paranoid. With every leaf that crunches under their feet and ever twig that snaps, he thinks that Jason is about to pop out with his machete, and kill them all.

Something odd comes into the light of Brand's Iphone. His stomach lurches.

"OH SHOOT!" Brand hollers. On the ground behind a tree, is a trash bag with a decaying man's head sticking out of it. Maggots are crawling all over it. The girls scream bloody murder, and a stream of curse words come out of everyone's mouth. Chloe clings to Brand's chest.

"Okay, how the hell did you know there was a dead body out here?" Stacie squeals, jabbing a finger at Lily. She trips over a root, hits the ground hard, and swears loudly. CR helps her up. "Hands off my butt!"

"Sorry." She says sheepishly, her creepy smile illuminated in the light of their phones.

"I like to hike," Lily answers, barely audible. "I found it yesterday."

Amy raises her hand, "I'm no expert on American law or anything, but shouldn't we go to the po-po? I mean this is some deep crap here."

"We're all drunk and underage. Let's wait until we're sobered up," Cynthia Rose says, running her hand through her red hair.

"That's obstructing justice," Brand says frowning. _I am so glad I didn't leave Chloe alone last night._ He grips her hand tighter and holds her closer.

"Do you guys think he's that creepy janitor that quit a couple weeks ago?" Chloe says out of the blue. _More than likely_.

They all shrug as Brand dials 911. This is going to be a rough night. _This place is officially full of freaks, and Aubrey's going to kill us if we miss rehearsal tomorrow. The things I get myself into._

"Listen," says Brand, wanting to protect Lily, "We all just found this body by late night hiking, not on a dare. We need to get our stories straight before the cops get here."

**AN: I promise this is a side plot, and will not be the whole plot. Though, I do have a few ideas if you want it to be a bigger part. It's up to you.**

**Pitch Perfect will still be about A Capella, and I hope this chapter doesn't scare you all away. I just wanted to make sense of the whole, 'Do you guys want to see a dead body?' comment.**

** Fun fact: In the original script. Aubrey admits she has a crush on Uni and doesn't do anything about it because of the oath.**


	4. Black Rose

**AN: Thanks to all who have favorite this story. The Bellas can't seem to keep themselves out of trouble, can they?**

**Chapter Three: Black Rose**

The cops take the Bellas into the station for questioning. They are all sitting on the floor next one another as they all wait to get interrogated. Lily is using Fat Amy's legs as pillows while Jessica, Ashley, and Denise are leaning on each other's shoulders. Cynthia Rose is leaning against the wall with her headphones in and her legs stretched out in front of her. Brand and Chloe are side by side texting each other about random things.

They are all on edge right now because the voice on the scanner suggests that the police suspect homicide. Not just a normal homicide, either. Eight women from ages seventeen to twenty-five have been found dead within a hundred mile radius with the same wounds in the past few years. They are not sure though, because this is the first male found, and if it was the creepy janitor, he's like forty-seven.

"A serial killer on campus. Lovely, just when I thought this college can't get any freakier," Brand muses.

Officer Berry is nice enough. He's about Chloe's age, and his wavy blonde hair and boyish good looks have turned Stacie into a giddy school girl. ("So, you're like a cop, right? Does that mean you like work out and stuff?")

Brand's phone vibrates, and a text comes up. Chlo;) : _Aca-awesome, now we have to deal with a very turned on Hunter. Seriously, her toner is showing from across the room. Xx_

He smiles and nudges Chloe, rolling his eyes. Brand:_ Lol. At least it got the rest of the girls off the hook about the drinking thing. He wants her. His hands are on her butt, Chlo. _

It is true. For whatever reason, the underage drinking charges were written off, and they were given warnings. Brand believes it's because of Stacie and Officer Berry's flirtatious banter. The theory is not completely off base, given that their sexual tension is making everyone uncomfortable. Sheriff Miller, a short black woman with a scary- tear your head off- demeanor, has been giving the two weird looks all night, even telling Berry to 'be professional.'

Chlo;): _Ten bucks says Stace will have his number by the time we get out of here. _

Brand_: You're on. I bet she gets a date. She probably already has his number. That's one horny cop._

Chloe laughs out loud and lays her head on Brand's shoulder. "I want out of this jail cell."

"We'll leave when they let us." It really did feel like they were the ones on trial. Brand's dad has been freaking out. They wouldn't let him into the police station. Even the step-monster called Brand out of concern. Brand had no idea why she was being so nice. His reaction wasn't the most mature, either. He was shocked and told her to screw off before he hung up. Something is gnawing at his heart. Was it guilt? He doesn't know. He just wishes the feeling would go away.

A new text from someone else flashes onto Brand's phone. Fat Amy: Yo _DJ, you and ginger are having eye sex again. Do everyone a favor and tell her how you feel. Anyone with eyes can see she has your heart._

Brand: _Newsflash Amy. She doesn't like me that way. Plus, Aubrey would eat both our faces off_

Fat Amy: _ She wants the DJ to turn her tables :p_

The Australian winks from across the room, and Brand frowns. Brand: _Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny._

Fat Amy: _She wants to give the DJ a BJ_

"Okay!" Brand yelps. He throws a dirty look at Amy, before typing out: _GROSS._

"Who are you texting?" Chloe whispers, snuggling into his neck and throwing her arm around his waist.

"No one!" he panics, throwing his phone. It slides across the floor toward Amy. The red-head rolls her eyes at him with a sigh.

Cynthia Rose beams, and starts singing along to her I-pod.

"Let me take you to Rio, Rio

Fly'o the ocean like an eagle eagle

And we can chill in my gazebo gazebo

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, na, na, na."

The rest of The Bellas join in naturally, one by one. Stacie even turns around from her cop and joins in loudly.

"Let me take you to Rio, Rio

Fly'o the ocean like an eagle eagle

And we can chill in my gazebo gazebo

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, na, na, na."

They all get to their feet, and Brand starts clapping his hands. The rest follow, stomping their feet. The officers in the lobby start to wonder what's going on. Cynthia Rose solos the next section.

"All in together now, hang like the weather now rio rio oooo rio rio

Right here, show me, now you know how to put it down rio oooo rio rio

You gotta light girl, turn it on, here's mine, turn me on rio rio oooo rio rio

You gotta wild side, let it out, Im ma make you bring it out rio rio oooo rio rio"

Head banging and dancing commences as they move their body to the rhythm they create. Brand face breaks into a wide grin. This is amazing! This is what an A Capella group should be like.

Stacie's turn to solo. She runs her hands down Officer Berry's arm seductively.

"Shake it up fast, wind it up slow, oh

Just move your body, girl

Work it to the floor

Let your body go now, now, now, oh, oh, oh"

"Let me take you to Rio, Rio

Fly'o the ocean like an eagle eagle

And we can chill in my gazebo gazebo

Oh, oh, -"'

Their A Capella fun is over as Aubrey Posen bursts into the police station. Brand's jaw clenches as he realizes she brought the shower guy with her. He's so focused on Tom, he doesn't bat an eye when Jesse follows after them. "What is going on, all of you!" Aubrey asks, grabbing her stomach like she's going to be ill, "I've been worried sick. It's all over the news. Local news teams are swarming where the body was found." Before anyone can say anything, a red head is flying into Shower Guy's arms.

"Tom!" Chloe says surprised, as he catches her in a more than friendly embrace. In this moment, Brand looks like he could be the one who killed those people. She turns to hug Aubrey. _What was I thinking? Chloe has a boyfriend. _Brand hangs his head in defeat, fighting the urge to gag.

"You guys, are you okay?" Jesse Swanson asks. "There are rumors swirling around campus."

"We thought one of you had died!" Aubrey squawks.

"We're all fine," Stacie reassures.

"Yeah, you should've seen the aca-magic we just created, Brey!" Chloe exclaims, bouncing up and down happily.

"What about the trauma you all suffered?" Aubrey probes, "A dead bod—"

Officer Berry steps in, "They can't say anything right now. They are to remain silent until this investigation is furthered."

"I brought you your laptop," Jesse tells Brand, handing him his computer. The DJ cringes. No one touches his labtop, but he knows his roommate meant well. "Wanna watch the Breakfast Club?" he asks hopefully with a smile.

Brand hesitates. He hates movies, "Thanks Jess," he says gratefully. Maybe he can make Chloe a mix.

"Oooh, the Breakfast Club sounds fun," Chloe gushes. She throws her arm around Tom's waist. "Let's all watch it together. Movie night! Or Morning!" Jealousy claws at Brand's stomach. _What's happening to me? I don't feel these kind of emotions. I'm emotionally stunted. Happy to be an introverted, brooding DJ._

"No," Officer Berry says, "They," he says, gesturing to Aubrey, Jesse, and Tom, "have to leave until we are done questioning all of you."

How Chloe has so much energy at this time of night, Brand doesn't know. Butterflies erupt in his stomach as she curls up next to him on the floor when they leave.

The DJ's phone vibrates again. Aubrey: _Are you sure you don't have a toner for Jesse or Jess as you call him? Just don't forget your oath._

Brand kicks himself. Why did he call Jesse, Jess? He irritates the crap out of the DJ. Aubrey won't let him live it down. He just texts back a simple threat. Brand: _As long as you don't forget yours, Captain Hook._

Aubrey:_ Very Funny, Mitchell._

Brand: _You know it._

Aubrey: _Just be at rehearsal at eight._

Officer Berry drives them to campus around 7:30 when they are finally released from prison. They are not allowed to release information concerning the investigation. Stacie gets out of the car hopping with joy.

"See you at eight tonight, Jace!" she flirts. She whispers something in his ear that only the two of them can hear.

Jace gives Stacie a wide smile as he bids her goodbye. Stacie gives him a peck on the cheek, and he mimics Cynthia Rose at initiation night, his eyes glued to her chest.

Brand: _Looks like Hunter's getting lucky tonight. You owe me ten bucks Chlo :p_

Chlo;): _Fine. Berry has a total boner right nowXx_

Brand: _Chloe Beale!_

Chlo;): _Just stating the obvious Xx_

"Wow!" Brand says, walking with Chloe to rehearsals.

A tall muscular bald man in his mid-late thirties grabs Chloe's arm, stopping her.

"Hey buddy!" Brand starts, taking Chloe's hand.

"-I mean no harm," the man says in a monotone voice that reminds Brand vaguely of Nick Cage. The man smiles warmly, but a protective growl still escapes Brand's lips. If this guy is killer, he's not letting him anywhere near his girl.

"Professor Judd?" Chloe asks timidly. She's freaked out, and Brand gets in between them. _He's beyond creepy._

The Professor has dark circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept. "The body, it's not Janitor Tennant, is it?

"We have no idea!" the freshman barks, "And even if we did, we wouldn't be saying anything!"

"Brand, it's okay," Chloe whisper is gentle. She wraps her arms around the DJ.

"There's a serial killer on campus! It is not okay!" He freaks, not taking his eyes off of the hulk of a teacher.

Judd puts his hands up in surrender, "Tennant is a friend of mine that's been missing. I'm sorry if I've alerted you. I'll just go," he answers the unasked question, before sulking off.

"He's a new teacher this year. He's my psych Professor," Chloe tells Brand, hugging him closer. "He's just worried for his friend. I don't think he understands personal boundaries between students yet, but thank you for being all protective," she says sweetly.

"Well, you and him have something in common," Brand jokes, "I still don't like him."

Chloe smacks him for the personal boundaries comment, "That's alright, but come on. We're late." Brand sighs as Chloe drags him by the hand to rehearsal.

They receive a phone call from the authorities when they get there. They have identified the body as forty-seven year old Bruce Tennant.

Rehearsal does not end up being rehearsal.

Aubrey tries to get them all to focus on choreography, but it fails when she can't even focus. They sit in their chairs in silence, too in shock to do anything.

"I know he was creepy, but he doesn't deserve to be murdered," Aubrey blurts out.

"What'd they call it? Blunt force trauma to the back of the head?" Stacie asks, "What does that even mean?"

"It means he bit the dust because someone hit him with a weapon on the back of the head," Brand sighs.

More silence. _So much for college being fun._

"If this is a serial killer, how did the other potential victims die?" Cynthia Rose quizzes, resting her arms on the back of her seat.

"According to Sheriff Miller, all were women, all raped post-mortem. They're looking for a psycho if it is a serial killer," Brand spews, standing up. He can't bear the thought of one of his teammates getting killed. Even worse, some sicko raping their dead bodies afterwards. "You guys need to be careful," he whispers painfully.

Lily's mouth moves, "What?" They all automatically respond.

"How do we know if it is even going to happen again?"

"We don't," Chloe says strongly, "But in the event that it does, none of us should go anywhere alone. Use the buddy system. Even you, Brand. A male was found dead as well."

They all nod in response.

Jesse and Brand start staying at Aubrey and Chloe's place. The rest of the Bellas have people staying at their places as well. Brand wouldn't complain, but it feels like Tom is over all the time.

Sometimes, it gets loud.

He busies himself with the mixes, but it doesn't help. So many of the mixes he creates now are about that girl.

Jesse does get him to watch the Breakfast Club to try to cheer him up. It is a good movie, aside from the predictableness of it. His roommate can sense something is wrong with DJ, and refrains from making advances on him.

Stacking cds gets more and more tiring. Brand feels numb. Did he mean anything to Chloe? _Shut up, Brand. This is a good thing. You don't have to worry about someone breaking your walls down._ The irony of that is statement resounds in Brand's mind. She already had broken down his walls. Like Amy said, She has his heart.

XOXOXOXO

The day of the fall mixer comes.

"Hey, Branddd," Chloe says in a cheery voice, waking Brand up.

"Morning," he grunts.

"Come on," she says, pulling on his arm, "the fall mixer is today, and I had a tie made for you because I know how much you hate those scarfs."

He rubs his eyes, sitting up, "You got me a tie?" he says with a smile.

"Course," she replies happily, "Couldn't have my best friend look like a girl, now could I?" She throws it at Brand's head, "Now come on, get dressed," she says, not moving.

"Well, get out, so I can put my clothes on," he grumbles.

"Nope, I saw you naked. Remember?" She winks before sprawling out on Aubrey's bed, staring at the freshman.

He shakes his head, throwing off his shirt. He notices Chloe hasn't taken her eyes off his midsection. "See something you like?" he smirks to hide his pain.

The redhead's cheeks go pink, "It's nothing I haven't seen before." He begins to button up his Bella's dress shirt.

He puts his hands on his hips, "I'm pretty confident about all this," he gestures to his chest, pulling on his dress pants.

"You should be," she giggles. He gives her a half smile that disappears as quickly as it comes. _  
Get it together, Mitchell._ He lets out a shaky breath, putting on the jacket. "Let me help you with the tie," Her voice is barely audible, as she slides off the bed.

Brand can barely breathe as she fixes the tie. "You look sharp," she quips, her bright blue eyes looking into his. Her depressed demeanor does not go unnoticed as she fiddles with his shirt collar.

"You don't look half bad either," he says shyly, brushing her red hair behind her ear. _Why does she have to be so irresistible?_

XOXOXOXO

The fall mixer is a complete disaster. It's so horrible some guy said their performance, 'made his beer taste bad.' Turn the Beat Around is a terrible song choice, anyway. Not that Aubrey would listen to any of them.

Others didn't want to see a guy. They hired the Bellas because they were hot girls. Not only did they get a guy but they got a 'barnyard explosion.'

"Well, I hope you all remember the way you feel right now, so you will never feel this way again," Aubrey scolds as they take a walk of shame away from the party. "Chloe, your voice didn't sound Agularian at all. Chloe," she says getting the redhead's attention, "I'm serious. What is wrong with you?" The two girls turn to face the rest of the Bellas.

The devastated look on Chloe's face makes Brand's stomach turn. "I have nodes," she spouts off like it's the worst thing in the world. The short freshman doesn't know what nodes are, but he is sure it's horrible because Aubrey freaks as soon as she says it. "I found out this morning," she says sadly as Aubrey takes her hands.

"What are nodes?" Brand asks, not bothering to shield his worry.

"Vocal nodules," Aubrey says grimly , "The rubbing together of your vocal chords at above average rates without proper lubrication."

"They sit on your windpipe, and they crush your dreams." Chloe looks as if she's about to burst into tears, and no one can do anything about it.

Brand is just concerned for her well-being, "Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?"

"Because, I love to sing," she says passionately.

Stacie crosses her arms, "Yeah, it's like when my lady doctor told me not to have sex for six weeks, and I did it anyway. Officer Berry was _great_ in bed." Lily looks horrified beside her. _Gross._

"You should really listen to your doctor!" Fat Amy scolds.

Stacie shrugs. "Ehhh."

"The key is early diagnosis," Chloe continues, gripping Brey's hands for support, " I am living with nodes, but I am a survivor. I just have to pull back, because I am limited, because I have nodes."

"Chloe, this is horrible," Aubrey says with empathy. Brand is just relieved it isn't cancer, and breathes a sigh of relief.

"Well, at least it's not herpes," Fat Amy says. Aubrey and Chloe gape at her. "Or do you have that as well?"

They all look at the blonde Australian, and shake their heads.

XOXOXOXO

Back at the Apartment.

"I'm sorry about your nodes Chloe," Brand says out of the blue. He'd been staring at her eating a tub of ice cream for a while now. He joins her on the couch and puts his arm around her as much as it pains him to do so. He may not be the boyfriend, but he could be the best friend. "I got something for you."

"It's not your fault, Brand," she replies, "You don't need to be nice to make up for it."

"But, I want to," Her eyes connect with his as she gives him a small smile. He takes the black flash drive out of his pocket. It is his mix of Titanium and 500 miles that he made for her. "It's not much, but hopefully it will cheer you up a bit." He puts the mix in her hands. "It's a mix I made. I hope you'll like it."

She raises her eyebrows in shock. "Thanks, you've never let me listen to your mixes before."

He chuckles, "I don't let anybody listen to them. You're the first." His face turns red. She pulls him into a forceful hug. It's desperate, and she doesn't let go.

"Thank you," she says again. Their faces are inches from each other. Brand pulls away a little hurt, remembering Tom. They settle into a quiet that is the furthest thing from peaceful.

Their phones start ringing at the same time. "Well, that's weird," he says, picking up his phone as Chloe answers hers, "Hello?"

"GET YOUR BUTTS TO LILY'S DORM NOW!" More than one shriek rings out. They can make out a few of the Bella's voices. Something is totally wrong.

XOXOXO

The Bellas and Jesse are squeezed into Lily's dorm room.

The threat is composed of magazine letters, random fonts and colors, cut and pasted onto thick black paper.

_You've meddled enough. Going to the police was a mistake. All of you will pay if you don't back off. I know your hearts, each of your desires and your selfish motives. Each of you has a secret. This is a warning. Think long and hard._

It is nauseating. All of it. The threat comes with a black rose and a small wooden box of the same color.

"What's he talking about, meddling?" Brand asks, glancing around at his teammates and his roommate.

"Or she," Stacie says.

"Or she," he says quickly.

Aubrey's guilty face tells it all, "I have a confession. Jesse and I went into the woods to look for clues in the middle of the night when the forensic teams left. And we found this."

She gives Brand another black rose.

"It symbolizes death," Jesse informs. "We looked it up."

"So this guy or girl has a thing for death, obviously," Chloe states, trying to remain calm. All eyes are on the ominous black box.

"Let's just open it. All this anticipation is giving me the creeps," Stacie breathes.

Blood. Everywhere.

Aubrey's orange vomit sprays all over the middle of the dorm, causing all of them to jump back. No one squeals. They are too shocked for that. Jesse's eyes roll back into his head. They try to catch him, but it's too late. He faints right into the puke.

Inside the box rests a human heart.

**AN: Hope you liked this Chapter. I know I had fun writing it. I know it's long, but I couldn't cut anything out. **

**The song is Rio by Ester Dean, the girl who plays Cynthia Rose if you didn't know. I just thought it was a fun song to take them out of their gloom.**


	5. The Second Questioning

Chapter Five: The Second Questioning.

BODY FOUND ABOVE PROFESSOR'S OFFICE MISSING A HEART. PROFESSOR TAKEN IN FOR QUESTIONING.

The body has been identified as Dr. Middleton of Barden University. Twenty-Eight years old with a doctorate in Philosophy. She teaches most of the freshman Philosophy classes. That was the killer's target to warn them. They all knew Dr. Middleton. She was a mentor among most of the new students. Brand didn't know, though. He never showed up to that class, not even once. But it was his fault she was raped and murdered. He just had to see that dead body didn't, he? The guilt is crushing him.

At least Professor Judd is getting questioned. It looks like he's the only suspect at the moment. Brand knew he was creepy. They couldn't find enough evidence to keep him in custody, though. He has been given paid leave until this whole thing has blown over.

"We have to do something!" Chloe yells at the digital Brand on her phone screen, throwing up her hands in frustration. Normally, she would be swooning over the small freshman looking sexy at his work desk, but right now she is fed up. Her eyes dart to the closed black box, sitting on top of the T.V. Aubrey rolls her eyes, her hand on her stomach.

"Chloe, I don't want a psycho killer after all of you or me," Brand says for like the fiftieth time. "And I saw that Brey." Face Time is getting on Brand's nerves. Aubrey, Chloe, and the rest of the Bellas want to go to the cops after the psycho killer warned them not to. He did not want his friends getting hurt. Handing over evidence that could tick said killer off is counter-productive.

It has been a few weeks since they experienced the nightmare of their lives, and all of them are still arguing about what to do about the horrific message they received. They refuse to do anything until the vote is unanimous. It feels like a jury.

"It's the FBI's jurisdiction now anyway," A now puke-free Jesse says, walking over into Chloe's screen. "You heard it on the scanner. They had to come in. It's a confirmed serial killer. They have it under control. They don't need the heart to catch the sick freak. I don't want you guys to get hurt either."

"They have no leads. That heart may be the only way to the killer! You're just saying that because you have a toner for your roommate!" Aubrey screeches.

"Well, Brand is hot," Jesse admits with a cocky grin, putting another album on the shelf. He looks at Brand, "I'll show you what I mean at the Riff-Off. Justin's letting me bend the categories." He winks. _What the hell is a riff off? It sounds like something out of an S&amp;M dungeon._

Brand claps a hand to his forehead in frustration, drawing himself back to the situation at hand. He sighs, "Back on track guys. Jesse agrees with me for safety reasons and _nothing _else." At least that's what he hopes.

"Shorty, I know you are concerned for our safety, but if we don't get this to the authorities, someone else could die before they catch him."

The hurt in Chloe's perfect blue eyes makes Brand feel gut -wrenchingly guilty. Word vomit comes up before he can stop it. "Chlo, I lo-If anything happened to you, I could never forgive myself. It's my fault we're in this mess."

"This isn't your fault, Brand," she replies. The almost declaration of love goes over her head. Brand groans, his head falling into his hands. What is she doing to him? He has never admitted love to anyone. Every person he has ever trusted enough to let in leaves. Chloe Beale is already in. He can't let her in further. In a perfect world, maybe. That's where she is safe. In a perfect world, she is the girl that would never hurt him, but this world is messed up. She is with Tom, far from safe, and in danger of a killer. She cannot get hurt. He won't allow it. He groans again.

"Come on!" Aubrey's shrill voice rings out. "I'm sick of waiting around here doing nothing. We have to take this _thing _to the cops." There is a scraping as she picks up something. Brand knows at once it's the box.

"Stop! You guys no!" The DJ panics, sliding off the sex covered work desk.

Chloe gives him an apologetic stare, and the call ends.

Brand looks at Jesse in pure terror. His eyes go to Luke in the booth. An anxious noise escapes him. "Just go. I'll take care of Luke," he says. "Make sure he gets his burger." Jesse winks and his roommate rolls his eyes. If Jesse didn't admit he found Aubrey hot, Brand would think he is gay. The guy likes to tease Luke about his eating habits, so Luke would get fed up and show him his abs.

The DJ runs out the door to the radio station, dialing the number he now knew by heart. The phone rings once. Twice. _Chloe Kate Beale, pick up your dang phone._ Third ring. Fourth. "Hello?" His heart leaps at the sound of her voice. He can hear Dangerous by Akon playing in the background.

"Chloe, thank God," he says, breathing a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"We are in Aubrey's car on our way to the police station."

"Can you pick me up? I'm at the radio station."

There's a pause. He can imagine her glancing at Aubrey for approval. "That depends, are you going to try to stop us?"

"Of course not, I just want you to be _safe_." It is the honest truth, and he and Jesse are fighting a losing battle.

"Be there in fe—" Squealing breaks and screams fill the freshman's ears.

"CHLOE!CHLOE! Baby, are you okay?!" He honestly doesn't care about the second spout of word vomit. All he cares about is Chloe and Aubrey's well-being.

"GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD SATANIST !" Aubrey gags, laying on the horn.

Brand sighs. "What's going on?!Guys?... Guys?"

"Lock your door, Chloe." The blonde's voice is harder to hear this time.

"You called me baby," is all Chloe can say as she locks her door.

The DJ kicks himself, blushing furiously. He is grateful Chloe couldn't see his face. He bites his lip, "Yeah, well…Why did Aubrey yell Satanist?"

"Don't think you're getting off that easy. But she almost hit some goth guy. He was standing in the middle of the road. Aubrey says to tell you he has two mouth monstrosities. Oh no, he's coming up to the window. He has a bat in his hand! Step on it, Brey!"

The sound of squealing tires fills Brand's ears as they take off. "You mean snake bites, not mouth monstrosities…Did he swing it at you?"

"NO, but he's the killer!" Aubrey barks.

"Just because he is goth, has 'mouth monstrosities,' and a bat doesn't mean—"

"But he's creepy, Brand," Chloe interjects.

"So, I have ear monstrosities. That doesn't mean I'm a killer, and I'm definitely not a satanist. He's probably just on the baseball team."

"We're on our way. Be there in a few. Bye babe," Chloe says giggling. Brand hangs up. His cheeks are hot. _Was she joking, or did she mean that?_

He just stands there waiting. Dumbfounded. In the cold.

Aubrey's grey Prius pulls up, blaring his Titanium Mix. "Chloe, where did you find this? It's really good." Brand's jaw drops. _Did Aubrey really like his stuff?_

"Oh, you know. I have my ways," she says with a beam. So this is their thing, then? He is surprisingly okay with that.

Brand sees the black box, rose, and threat wedged up on the dash. "Hey, babe." Chloe greets.. She's not going to let his slip up go. He blushes, but grins at them both as he hops in the back of the car. Chloe turns to face the small freshman. Her face breaks out into a wide smile, her blue eyes looking deep into Brand's dark blue ones. He rolls his eyes, smirking. But his face is as red as the Cool-Aid Man. They are singing to his mix.

The bubbly red head eagerly unbuckles her seatbelt, and begins to climb into the back as they head down the road, "Chloe, what are you doing?" says Aubrey, trying to keep her eyes on the road. It doesn't look like Aubrey wanted Chloe anywhere near Brand while her lady jam was playing, different version or not.

She trips and falls flat on her face into the back seat, "Oops!" she says. She pops back up to see Brand shaking his head at her. "Oh shush. You like it." She gives the DJ a flirty wink

"I didn't say anything."

Chloe lays her head in Brand's lap, making his heart beat spike. Normal circumstances, this would be great, but it seems this song is doing things to Chloe and it's doing things to Brand too. It's uncomfortable and hard to breathe. Aubrey shoots Brand a scolding glare from her rearview mirror, mouthing, 'oath.' The freshman gulps as he feels a warm hand intertwine with his. _This doesn't mean anything, does it? Of course not, Mitchell. She just has no comprehension of personal space. She's going to be the death of you._ As much as he wants to pull away from her to save the pain later, he cannot bring himself to do it. He tries not to concentrate on the tingly sensation from her touch.

"You have such small hands," she says, rubbing circles in his palm with her thumb. He smiles down at her, stroking her hair.

"_Chloe_," Aubrey says sharply. Clearly her scold carries a message unknown to the small DJ. Girl language still confuses him after a few months of trying to act gay.

"What?" the red head asks with an innocent pout. Brey doesn't respond, and Chloe doesn't move. Brandon looks awkwardly up at the sexy car ceiling, avoiding eye contact with either of them. The rest of the ride to the police station is quiet aside from the radio. "Shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am Titanium!" Chloe sings along. He really does want to sing along with her, but can't bring himself to do that, not with Aubrey in the car.

"Who wants to give the box to them?" Chloe asks, breaking the building awkward silence between them. She sits up properly in her seat.

Aubrey sighs, "I'll do it. Stay out here in case the killer tries to plant a car bomb or something. They'll call you in for questioning."

Chloe and Brand look at each other and back at Aubrey with raised eyebrows. "What? I'm not stupid. I watch Bones." Aubrey turns around, "Face time me. If I get killed in there, we'll have it on film," she says dramatically, as she puts her phone in her bra with the camera peeking out just enough to reveal her surroundings.

"Boob camera? Really?" Chloe says, bursting out in furious laughter. "I need to stop telling you stories about my time in high school."

"Boob camera? " Brand asks, obviously out of the loop. He gives Chloe a look, "What the hell kind of high school did you go to?"

"I'm a legend," Chloe says, poking him lightly in the chest, "I'll have to tell you the story sometime."

"Like the one about the guy dressed in your thong?" he says amused, shaking his head.

She nods, flashing her bright smile at him. Taking out her phone, she contacts Aubrey. They can see her steering wheel from her bra. "Come in, Captain Puke. Testing. Testing. One. Two."

The uptight blonde sends an unamused glare at Chloe from the front seat, "I can hear you. It works."

"Just making sure."

The inside of the police station hasn't changed. Officer Berry takes her into his office, and sits her down to wait to be interrogated by the FBI. His office is filled with Atlanta Falcons banners, and a bouquet of tiger lilies and tulips is sitting on his desk.

"How much you want to bet Stacie got him those flowers?" Chloe snorts, nudging the DJ's shoulder.

"There's no doubt in my mind," he smirks.

Officer Berry walks around Aubrey. He stops right in front of her saying things they can't make out. The sound isn't very clear. "His fly is down! You can totally see his junk!" Chloe giggles, pointing to the phone screen. It's true, Brand muses. Though ,the sight of Berry's white pickle boxers is gross.

"Stacie, what are you doing here?" Aubrey's shocked voice rings out. Aubrey's cleavage turns to show Chloe and Brand a full view of their fellow Bella.

"I told you he was great in bed," Stacie says offhandedly, wiping her mouth. "And I sent him flowers." She's grinning like a love sick puppy.

Aubrey grabs her forehead, looking at disbelief at Stacie.

"Well, that explains the unzipped pants," Brand deadpans.

"Ew, they totally did it on his desk!" Chloe says.

"Did you expect anything less from Stacie?"

"Well, no."

Agent Armor from the FBI, some really scary tatted up bald dude, interviews both Aubrey and Stacie. It takes a while, but they end up taking Brand and Chloe in for questioning as well.

"So what do you need to know?" Brand asks as he comes into the office followed by Chloe.

"Everything," Armor says. He lays a tape recorder on the table.

After they recount everything over and over from the message to Aubrey cleaning up Jesse from the puke, they are free to go. The other Bellas and Jesse are called in. Captain Puke is not happy, not at all. The Riff-Off is tomorrow night, and because of the police, they can't practice. There are new categories this year too.

Brand raises his hand, "Question: What the hell is a Riff-Off?"

His captains chuckle as they start to explain.

When they get back to the apartment changed and ready for bed, Chloe hugs Brand who is laying on the sofa. She places a long, soft kiss on his cheek. "What's that for?" he asks, grinning like an idiot.

"It's a thank you, DJ. You mixed _our _song, and it is amazing. You can make it one day, you know." She rests her head on his chest, and snuggles up against him. "No one's ever done something so nice for me, you know?"

"Do you really mean that?"

"No. I'm lying. It sucked. Yes, it was awesome, Brand. Do you listen to the music you make? It's great." A great rush of affection for Chloe Beale rushed up from within him.

"Thanks, that means a lot," he mumbles, her minty breath begins to fill his nostrils. He finds himself pulling away again. He didn't want to end up stupidly kissing her. She has Tom, and he will be coming in when he gets Jesse from the station. He really needs to get this toner under control or it really will be the death of him.

"I'm going to head to bed," she says, kissing him on the cheek again. "Get some rest. We have to some Trebles to crush tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Chloe." He says as she shakes her butt at him again, and prances to the bedroom. He is so helpless.

**AN:** **So This is Chapter 5. Because of personal issues it came out late. I apologize. Anyway, hope you liked it. Couldn't resist the John Tucker references. I might even bring in Heather, Beth, and Carrie.**

** Next up we have the Riff-Off and consequences for going to the cops. I am going to be changing up the Riff-Off a little. Should I keep No Diggity or not? I can't decide.**

** What did you guys think of this one? **


	6. The Riff-Off

**So you guys spoke. I will not change the Riff-Off, but I do have big plans for next chapter that I am excited about. Also, less than four months until PP2! Praying for Bechloe to become canon!**

Chapter 6: The Riff-Off

"Seriously Chloe, why do you let him live with you?" Tom's irritated voice reaches Brand's ears. The dressed and ready to go freshman cringes. He will probably have to go back to living in the dorm with Jesse. But if he did that, Chloe and Aubrey would be unprotected. Tom isn't there often enough to help an attack. Brand has to stay here. He can't just leave. Would Chloe make them leave because of Tom?

"He's my teammate, and there is a killer on campus, Tom. Stop being so insensitive," Chloe says tiredly, running a brush through her hair.

"Excuse me for not wanting him here. He's seen you naked!"

"Stop being such a drama queen. You know Brand! It wasn't like that."

"And he has a crush on you. I know a crush when I see one. I don't care if he supposedly gay," Tom huffs.

"Ready to go, Chloe?" Brand asks, walking around the corner. He attempts to keep the smugness from his voice, but he fails miserably.

"I'm done discussing this with you, Tom," Chloe says. The DJ can't keep a smirk of his face as he links arms with gorgeous red head on their way out the door.

The two friends walk across campus to the pre-Riff-off rehearsal in a comfortable silence, both of them smiling like idiots. Aubrey and Jesse were arguing about something, so Aubrey went to rehearsal earlier.

"You know. I saw it in the shower, but I never asked," Chloe says with a glance at the black ink peeking out from Brand's right sleeve. "What is that tattoo?"

"Oh, it's stupid really," the DJ says, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his forearm as they walk. "It's a grasshopper. I'm claustrophobic, and grasshoppers have always looked so free to me. I guess I got it to remind myself that the world is so big that I have no need to feel caged. Even though I do a lot of the time."

"We both have bug tattoos, and you never told me!" Chloe says, flashing her wrist at him.

"You never asked."

She smacks him playfully on the arm, "So, this is destiny," she says, keeping her eyes on where they are walking. "You were meant to join the Bellas. I know it."

Brand just rolls his eyes. "Why did your tattoo, then?"

"In Chinese culture, it is said that if a lady bug lands on you, your wish will come true. All my life, I've wished to not be invisible. The day I came to Barden it landed right there," her finger brushes the small tattoo.

"You've never been invisible to me."

Chloe smiles at her teammate, blushing. "Thanks."

XOXOXOXO

They get to rehearsal, and know something is up. The rest of the Bellas…and Jesse are sitting on chairs in a circle. The two friends stop in their tracks. The Bellas are not speaking and they all share the same petrified expression.

"No—what happened this time?" Chloe panics. "Brey?"

Aubrey turns her head toward her best friend and the short DJ. She rises from her chair, and hands both Brand and Chloe black boxes like the one that contained the heart, only these have large silver locks on them. "It's punishment. We don't know what is in them, but we know who they're from. There was one for each of us. The note said," The blonde intakes sharply, "The key will appear in places you know. Naked and vulnerable, your secrets will show."

"So this guy thinks he's a poet?" Brand asks irritably.

"Yeah, let's not say things like that right now. I really don't want to make the psycho creepy killer any more angry than he already is," Fat Amy says.

"I think we should go to the cops," Stacie says crossing her arms. "Jace—"

"We already went to the cops, and look where it got us," Brand snaps, "We have to take this into our own hands if this is going to work. I'm sorry Stacie, but you're going to have to stay away from your boyfriend for a while. Fake being sick or something. Maybe say you need a break. We all need to stay as far away from the police as possible."

"But you know I can't be celibate for more than twenty six hours at a time!" Stacie whines.

The DJ sighs. Stacie makes him want to bang his head against the wall sometimes.

"Brand's right," Jesse says, rolling his eyes at the sexual brunette, "This guy probably has someone on the inside. How else would he know we went to the authorities?"

"He might have bugged the place," CR suggests, "Everyone knows that police station is a shabby dump. It's a wonder it hasn't been shot up yet. The security is almost non-existent."

"What are we going to do about the Riff-Off, then?" Chloe asks, "Lots of people show up to that. Cops will be swarming the place."

"We could always kidnap the cops and torture them with my whips and chains," Lily winks.

"What?" Everyone asks, throwing her weird looks.

"Okay," says Aubrey taking charge, "The police won't know something is up if we just act natural. Let's just get our stuff together, and no offense Jesse, kill the Trebles at the Riff-Off."

"I'm not sure kill is the best word to be using right now," Fat Amy snorts.

Aubrey sighs, "Let's just do it."

XOXOXOXO

"Welcome to the Riff-Off!" The people in and around the crowded pool mimic sirens. "Who's ready to get vocal?"

Brand is beyond nervous. He crosses his arms and closes his eyes. _Just breathe, dude. Stop being such a coward._ There are so many people down here; it's getting hard to breathe. He hates being claustrophobic at times like these. The crowd goes nuts as it begins.

He gazes around the pool and sees everyone he is suspicious of. Professor Judd, The snake-bites guy, Tom. He also sees the cops and FBI agents which is not good. They can't be fraternizing with cops. Officer Berry is on the edge of the pool, cheering on Stacie as he oh so obviously undresses her with his eyes. Brand snorts. Those two have a serious problem.

He feels a hand slip into his. "It's alright. You aren't caged. Remember," Chloe whispers, squeezing his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brand notices something that sets his teeth on edge. Brand meets Tom's murderous gaze with an eye roll. "Just ignore him," Chloe says, "I think he's on his man period or something."

"The winner's receive the greatest prize of all!" Justin yells over the crowd, "The microphone used by Hoobastank when they rocked out at the Schnee Performing Arts Center!"

"I'm taking you down," Jesse mouths to the Bellas.

Aubrey rolls her eyes, and Brand just smirks at his roommate. He really doesn't care. He just wants to get away from the roaring crowd, hoping the killer isn't just watching them all. He focuses hard on Chloe's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Let's see our first category! Ladies of the Eighties!" Justin announces as the spinning wheel stops.

Aubrey is elated. She runs to the middle, but Bumper and the rest of the Trebles beat her to it. Clapping and a cappella sounds erupt from their mouths.

Bumper takes the lead singing with a screwed up face_. _

" _Oh Mickey, you're so fine! _

_You're so fine, you blow my mind!_

_ Hey, Mickey!_

_ Hey, Mickey!_

_Oh Mickey you're so fine—"_

One of the BU harmonics girls cuts the Trebles off.

Chloe and Brand look at each other chuckling, waiting for the Madonna to come.

"_You're fine and you're mine._

_I'll be yours till the end of time"_

The girl turns to her taller teammate,

"_Cause you made me feel,"_

_(Ooooh, ahhhhh, oooh, ahhh)_

Stacie winks at Jace.

"_Shiny and newww! Like a virgin!..."_

"Okay guys," Aubrey tells as all as her teammates gather around her. "Watch," she says, walking to the middle.

"_Touched for the very first time."_

Aubrey belts it,

"_Like the one in me,_

_That's okay. _

_Let's see how you do it._

_Put up your dukes, _

_Let's get down to it!_

The Bellas look at each other, and Chloe pulls Brand behind her, to help him feel more comfortable.

At least it is a song he knows. Brand joins in with the rest of his teammates, trying to ignore the anxiety clawing inside him.

"_Bum bad um bad dum bad um bum bum,_

_Hit me with your best shot. _

_Why don't you hit me with your best shot?_

_Hit me with your best shot! _

_Fire Away!_

A High Note wanders over, attempting to cut Aubrey off,

"_Eh, it must've been Love,"_

Everyone starts laughing,

"_But it's over nowwww. But it's over right now!"_

Justin points to her with both hands, "The negative side-effects of medical marijuana folks, you are," the crowd claps and joins in, "CUT OFF!"

"Stony bologna!" The high note girl just waves it off, and goes back to her team.

Getting cold, Chloe wraps her arm around the DJ's waist. He can't help from breaking into a wide grin, and nudging her with his hip.

They walk back to the circle together, "So we just pick anything that works?" Brand asks Chloe.

She nods, "Mhmm,"

"And you just go with it?"

"Yeah, any song," the red head answers helpfully.

"And our next category is Songs about Sex!"

"Sex?" Aubrey asks.

The joy on Stacie's face is so typical.

Surprisingly, Cynthia Rose beats everyone to the middle, backing up Donald as she does.

"_Na na na na_

_Come on._

_Na na na_

_Come on._

The Bellas happily join in with the song back ground music and everything.

Oh wow. Cynthia Rose and Stacie begin grinding on each other taking the lead and Jace looks very aroused.

Brand resists the urge to laugh, and shaking his head, provides the background noise he is supposed to. To his immense satisfaction, Chloe starts doing the same thing to him. He doesn't have the urge to laugh or have a panic attack anymore. He has the need for a cold shower.

"'_Cause I may be bad, _

_But I'm perfectly good at it._

_(I like it like it Come on come on come on) _

_Sex in the air. I don't care._

_I like the smell of it._

_Sticks and stones make break my bones,_

_But chains and whips excite me._

_(I like it like it come on)_

'_Cause I may be bad,_

_But I'm perfectly good at it—"_

Donald cuts Stacie off, and he can't be more happy. He has never had the urge to kiss someone so much in his life. Chloe is making it way too hard to keep his feelings at bay.

"_Sex baby, Let's talk about you and me." _Donald points to Stacie and back to himself.

"Oh really?" Stacie asks irritated at Donald's attempt at flirting.

_Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be._

"Oh really?" Stacie asks as Donald sings to her. Aubrey pulls her backwards toward the reset of the Bellas.

He waves Stacie goodbye,

"_Let's talk about sex._

_ Let's talk about sex._

Stacie stops Aubrey and heads back to the middle, cutting the Trebles off again,

"_Baby, all through the night I'll make love to you."_

Fat Amy joins in, "_Like you want me to, and I_—"

Jesse cuts the Bellas off, singing right to-it looks like Aubrey. _What is going on?_

"_And I guess it's just the woman in you_

_ That brings out the man in me._

_ I know I can't help myself._

_ You're all in the world to me."_

Aubrey looks like she's liking it too. _I mean what? What about Unicycle? Was it the argument they were having this morning?_ Brand doesn't care. At least Jesse isn't singing to him. That is all that matters.

(_B_a, ba)

"_It feels like the first time!_

_ It feels like the very first time!_

_ It feels like the first time!"_

The DJ gets an idea. It's spur of the moment really.

Not thinking about the crowd, he run's to the center, and lays down a Dr. Dre verse. All the anxiety melts away.

_"It's going down, _

_Fade to the backstreet._

_The homies got RB collab creations._

_Bump like acne_,"

Brad does not see it, but the peoples' jaws around him drop, especially a certain red head's, who is completely turned on by it.

"_No doubt. I put it down._

_Never slouch._

_As long as my credit can vouch a dog couldn't catch me. _

_Straight up._

_Tell me who can stop when Dre making moves _

_Attractin' honeys like a magnet,_

_Giving em eargasms with my mellow accent._

He sees Jesse's stunned face and turns around looking at the Bellas, blushing slightly when he sees Chloe's face. _Why is she so shocked? Did I do something wrong?_ _Come on guys, pick up the song. _

"_Still moving the flavor_

_With the homies, Blackstreet and Teddy_

_The original rump shakers."_

"Rump shakers?" Aubrey asks irritably, wanting to slap Chloe for the way she is looking at the DJ in the middle of the pool. She's screwing him so hard with her eyes, it's a wonder she isn't pregnant. "You need a condom, honey?" She hisses at her best friend, smacking her arm.

Chloe's face is more red than her hair, but that doesn't make her any less turned on.

Brand stops, feeling like he can hear crickets.

"Keep going, roomie," Jessie says.

Brand looks around at the clueless Bellas and a sexually frustrated Chloe.

"_Shorty get down, good Lord_," he sings straight to Chloe, about Chloe, grinning at her from ear to ear.

"_Baby got em open all over town."_

Finally, Fat Amy joins in.

"_Strictly biz, she don't play around,_

_Cover much ground_

_Got game by the pound._ (Fat Amy stomach smack.)

His grin gets wider as the rest of the Bellas join in.

"_Getting paid is her forte,_

_Each and every day,_

_True player way,"_

He can't resist pointing to Chloe,

"_I can't get her out of my mind,_

_I think about that girl all the time."_

Brand looks up surprised as the whole crowd joins into it. A Capella, he decides, staring into his girl's eyes, is pretty dang awesome. This is all Chloe Beale's doing. The reason why college is now bearable, the reason why he is now singing A Capella music and loving it. How he loved that girl. What?

"_I like the way you work it,_

_No diggity_.

_I gotta bag it up, baby_.

_I like the way you work it_

_No diggity._

_I got to bag it up baby._

_(eh, oh, eh ,oh, eh ,oh, oh)_

_I like the way you work it._

_No diggity._

_(eh, oh, eh, oh, eh, oh, oh)_

_I got to bag it up baby._

_I like the way you work it,_

_No diggity._

_I got to bag it up._

_I like the way you work it, _

_No diggity._

_I got to bag it up baby_

He got into the middle of his teammates again, with a glance at the girl he now knows he loves_._

_I like the way you work it_

_No diggity_

_I got to bag it up._

"We out!" He makes an x with his hands, taunting the Trebles. "I mean you're welcome!"

The crowd goes wild, and Jesse claps for him. He's never felt so happy in his life.

"Tough blow Bellas. The word you needed to match was it." He turns to Brand, "And you sang it's. You are CUT OFF! TREBLES WIN!"

The crowd boos, but it doesn't change the fact that they lost.

"Are you serious right now?" Brand asks.

"Sorry Brand, but you lost," Jesse says.

"I've never heard that rule before," Aubrey defends. _Wait, Aubrey's defending me? _"_Guys, _guys, come on. Come back."

"Who are you and what have you done with Aubrey Posen?" Brand asks.

She looks unamused as she leads them to the back of the pool, "I'm right here."

"Before everyone goes to bed tonight, I want you to make a list of everything we did wrong," Captain Puke says.

"And she's back," Brand sings, lacing fingers with the beautiful red head beside him.

"You did great," she whispers in his ear. "That was just as good as Titanium…if not better."

Brand's eyes widen as he looks at the redhead beside him. She is leaning in.

"I'm gonna melt that Cabbage Patch kid." Fat Amy interrupts. Brand growls. Did he and Chloe almost kiss again? _Why Fat Amy? Why? What is so important about Bumper and his concaving man boobs?_

"Okay, guys what we just did was great, right?" Brand asks.

"Calm your tits, Brand we still lost," Aubrey deadpans.

"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome. We were actually listening to.."

Of course Aubrey has to cut him off. "Okay everybody, hands in. Ah on my count."

"On three or after three?"

"After three."

"On three."

"That's not how we do it."

"Ugh! Why can't we figure this out?!" Stacie sighs. "Oh hi Jace!"

Brand grabs her ear, "Not in a million years Stacie!"

"Oh come on you and Chloe were practically dry humping each other out there! You can't cut that sexual tension with a knife. It makes everyone with in a five mile radius want to get it on!"

Brand's face gets scalding hot. So does Chloe's. "I…uh…I…" They start looking at each other and then looking away.

"Sexual tension?" Tom asks, looking at Brand like he was a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe., "Come on, babe," he says, ripping her away from Brand, "Let's go home. It's late."

"Chloe?" Brand calls.

She gives him a sad look, and heads back inside with her boyfriend. He will never have a shot with that girl as long as Tom is around.

He hangs his head. He's never felt so defeated in his life.

He definitely doesn't want to go back to that apartment tonight.

"Come on, short stuff," Stacie says with sympathy, "You can come back to my place, and I'll bring you back in the morning. CR and Denise are rooming with me."

Had anything that happened tonight meant anything to her? She was grinding on him. Grinding. Girls and guys do not do that with each other unless they are interested, right?

Maybe he should just quit the Bellas, but he knows he can't. They need protection from whoever Brand has sent after them.

XOXOXOXO

"No Tom, I'm not having sex with you tonight." Chloe Beale says, plopping her head down on her pillow.

"Why, because of your gay friend?" _Yes._

"No! He's not even here right now."

"Chloe, I know when you are turned on. That face you made when he started rapping was the face you made right before we had sex for the first time, only it wasn't near as intense as _that_ was." _You have no idea, Tom. No idea. My pants are still wet._

"Tom—"

"Just forget it, Chloe. Goodnight."

Chloe leaves to take a cold shower. She loves Brand Mitchell. It was not by choice, but love never is.

**An: So, I'm back. Hopefully, you liked the Chapter. Next one is going to be intense. I can't wait to write it. Anyway, tell me what you thought of this chapter. I know you all wanted romance, but with Tom still in the way, that can't happen. **


	7. Secrets

AN: So, this takes place about three weeks before regionals. I also thought I should tell you Bechloe shippers, if Bechloe doesn't become canon, there will be chapter one of a **_normal_** Beca/Chloe pitch perfect two storyline up the day after the midnight showing, and also a sequel to this maybe? Idk, we will see how it goes. Enjoy:D

Chapter 7: Secrets

_Chloe wakes in darkness, craning her neck to survey her surroundings, but she can see nothing. She attempts to sit up, but is unable to do so. The feel of cold metal on her wrists and the metallic clanging let her know she is chained to what seems to be a bed. 'This isn't good.' Struggling against the chains, she screams for help, but the Bella scarf tied tightly around mouth muffles it. No one will hear her. She's bound and gagged just waiting to be murdered. Where, she is not sure. Just pitch black. The panic flooding through her makes it almost impossible to breathe. 'Okay Red, think. Think. Oh, this is sooo not good.'_

_Bright lights flip on out of nowhere, hurting her eyes. She opens and closes them a few times. 'Calm down Chloe. The cops will find you soon. There are four other people in that apartment. Brand and Aubrey would never let anything get to her. Unless the Rose Killer got ahold of them first.'_

_"Hello, Chloe." The voice was familiar to her, but the harsh tone is foreign._

_He is dressed in all black, holding a bloody yellow tie in his left hand and wielding a titanium bat in the other. His face is blurred. She cannot make it out. "Got rid of your boyfriend easy enough and the blonde…Well, she was tight, if you know what I mean," He dangled the tie over her head with the nastiest smile she has ever seen, blood flowing from his mouth to his chin. "I knew their secrets Chloe, and I know yours."_

_"No, no, no! Brand! Aubrey! No!" Her eyes linger on the tie she had given the freshman. They never did anything to deserve this. That was her secret. She was afraid of losing them, afraid she'd once again become invisible. Without them, nothing really mattered. They were her life. There is Tom, but he is not future material, just a stupid fling. She needs to get rid of him. Her best friends are gone, and it is her fault. She went to the cops, and this is her punishment. Tears pour down her face. She tries to scream and cry, but no sound comes from her mouth. _

_Rose Killer's hand caresses her face. "I was there for you all that time, and you just write me off for a freshman who can sing. Now you are going to pay."_

_Her eyes widen in horror as the blurry face becomes clear. Thomas Marks, her baseball player boyfriend raises his bat to swing._

"Wake up! Chloe, come on wake up!" Tom grabs her wrists, trying to be comforting. "Hey, I'm here."

Chloe's leg chambers and kicks him hard in the gut, sending him flying off the bed. "Get away from me, you creep!" It feels like there's a huge weight on her chest. She feels crushed, and there is a loud ringing in her ears. She sees stars, and she can't seem to suck enough air into her lungs. Her breathing is so hard, it can be heard from across the room.

"Heyyy," a gentle voice whispers. Exhausted and hair sticking up everywhere, Brandon Mitchell appears in the doorway in his usual plaid. This time the plaid is red. He may have just came from Stacie's place, but he is aware and concerned as he sees a trembling Chloe Beale backed up against the wall, her eyes full of terror. "What's going on? You alright?" He crawls onto the bed and pulls her into a hug, his hands resting on her waist, "What happened?" Chloe sobs violently into Brand's shoulder, mumbling nonsense about him getting killed, and pulls him to her as tight as she can.

Brand is speechless. His redhead best friend is absolutely petrified. Her nails dig into his back, but he doesn't mind. He's so shocked Chloe is running her hands all over him, he's numb. _Think about how she must be feeling. Now's not the time to let your toner get in the way. She needs your help. But what the heck am I supposed to do?_

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here. I'm alive," Slightly unsure of himself, he places Chloe's sweaty, shaking palm over his beating heart. He is not used to being social, let alone comforting. This is new. "See? It's still beating," he says, looking into her beautiful puffy blue eyes for approval. She nods, sniffling. Brushing her hair out of her face, he gives her a sympathetic smile. His heart breaks. He's never seen her so upset and defenseless. Chloe whimpers on chest , clawing into his back.

Tom stands up, his nostrils flaring with anger, "I see how this is. Your gay friend can comfort you, but I can't?" He rolls his eyes at the two. Chloe clings onto _him_ for dear life, and jealousy over takes him, "Why don't you just date him? Oh, that's right. He likes the D, too. Looks like we're both out of luck, Beale."

Brand has had enough of it. "Ugh..She-She had a nightmare!" he yells at the built senior, "We've all been through a lot. Some psychopathic killer is threatening us. Try to be considerate!"

"You're lucky I don't murder you and leave your body for the cops to find!" The baseball player says, shoving Brand's head against the wall.

"TOM!" Chloe shrieks.

Brand yells out in pain. Clenching his jaw to keep from saying anything he would regret, he stands up to defend himself. Chloe shoots Tom a murderous glare, grabbing Brand's arm to keep him from doing anything stupid. There's no doubt Tom could put the DJ in the hospital if he tried, but Brand can't keep himself from going off.

His fist connects with Tom's face with a pop. "Ow!" Brand hisses. His right hand hurts like crazy, but he is pleased to see it sends Tom to the ground.

"Get out, Tom! Get your stuff and go!" Chloe fumes, pointing toward the door.

"Chl—"

"If you can't handle my friends staying here, then you can just leave," she says firmly.

"What is going on?" Jesse and Aubrey ask at the same time, running into the bedroom like a bomb just went off. The racket Tom and Brand are making must have woken them up as well.

"You know what?" Tom says to Jesse and Aubrey, "If she wants to live with him, I'm done. I have told her over and over how uncomfortable it is for me for him to be staying here. They were naked in the shower together talking about masturbation songs!" He grabs his stuff, and stalks out, slamming the apartment door behind him.

"What? naked?" Aubrey gasps, looking in disbelief at Chloe.

"…masturbation songs?" Jesse says with raised eyebrows.

Chloe captures Brand in a needy embrace. It lasts longer than most hugs ever should between platonic friends. The whole time the DJ has to fight the urge to jump for joy. Did Tom and Chloe just break up? He doesn't know, but this is great news. If he can get Aubrey to lighten up, he might have a chance with the girl of his dreams.

"Don't leave," Chloe says, wiping her eyes. Her fearful statement is directed at all three of them.

Brand frowns, _Why would she ever think we would leave her?_ He shakes his head. _Silly redhead. _"We aren't going anywhere, Chlo. I promise."

"Group hug," Jesse announces as Aubrey nods. The three roommates squeeze the redhead tighter than she would've liked.

"Alright, alright," Chloe coughs, breaking up the hug, "Let me go shower and brush my teeth. My breath probably smells like egg." She checks her breath self-consciously. "Just please don't leave."

"We aren't going anywhere, but why on earth would you think your breath smells bad? It always smells great, " Brand chuckles. That is one of his favorite things about her. She always smells good, her breath, her hair, even her body.

Aubrey sighs with an eye roll directed at her best friend, "Last year our captain was downright rude and told Chloe her breath smelled like egg all the time. Now she brushes her teeth four times a day with prescription strength toothpaste and rinses twice a day with mouth wash. And _how_ would you know how what her breath smells like?" Her eyes dart between the two friends.

"Uh, ehhh, I'm going to go brush my teeth… byyyye," and with that Chloe skips to the bathroom singing _Pocket Full of Sunshine_ at the top of her lungs. The DJ stares after her with a smirk, masking the love-struck grin that threatens to appear on his face.

Aubrey smacks him on the back of the head, "I'd rather you look that way at Jesse, and he's a Treblemaker, also against your oath."

"Chloe's amazing, Brey," he says with a goofy smile.

"Ughhhh, don't make me puke," Aubrey groans, gathering her clothes from the next room.

Jesse gives Brand a horrified look, "Please don't make her puke!"

Brand peeks over at Aubrey grinning. He knows exactly how to push his captain's buttons. He winks at her, "And you definitely would rather me look at Chloe that way than Jesse."

"…. anyway Brand," Brey continues blushing, ignoring Jesse's puke comment. _Score one for Brand_ he mentally celebrates, "Your father would like to speak with you regarding your well-being. Since I am his T.A., I said I'd talk to you since you aren't answering his texts. I am to escort you to his office today, but you are going with me to visit my father in the hospital first. We have to use the buddy system, and Chloe is busy."

"How bout no. You aren't the boss of me and neither is he."

"Please, there is a killer after us, and I don't want to go visit him alone." Is Aubrey really pleading with him? Captain Barf Bag? Is he dreaming?

"Go with Jesse, then," says Brand irritably, "I'm not talking to my dad about my problems."

"I have Trebles rehearsal today," he says, grabbing a towel for a shower, "Bumper wants us all to vote on the song we are going to sing at regionals."

"You guys get to vote?! That's so not fair!" Brand says, sending a glare Aubrey's way.

"Don't give me that look. That kind of unorganized system is exactly why we are going to beat the Trebles and win the ICCA's this year."

Brand rolls his eyes. She wishes.

"If you go with me to visit my dad, I won't make you talk to your father," she sings. Her tone drops, becoming quiet. "But you should at least think about it. You are never guaranteed tomorrow. I would know."

_What is she on about? _Brand sighs, knowing Aubrey has won. "Fine. I'll think about it," he gestures to the door, "Lead the way, Captain Puke." This earns him another Aubrey glare.

"You mind me asking why your dad's in the hospital?" Brand asks, running out to the car. The sky is black, and it's pouring down the rain.

His captain doesn't look his way. Her grip on her steering wheel tightens, and she looks down in her lap, her blonde hair hiding her face. Ignoring him, she starts the car. It must be serious, whatever is wrong because they don't speak the entire way to the hospital.

The only sounds are from the rain beating down on the car and Aubrey's girly Michelle Branch cd. He thinks the song's called Breathe.

They get out of the car at Barden hospital. He has to half run to keep up with his captain's brisk pace under the umbrella. "What floor?"

"5th floor, CCU," Aubrey's voice quivers like she is trying not to cry. The critical care unit? That sounds bad. Really bad.

"So you're from Barden?" he asks awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

She nods, "I have wanted to go to Barden University since I was like five," she giggles at the memory. This is a new side of Aubrey he has never seen. What is wrong with Aubrey Posen? He texts Chloe.

Brand: _ Jesus is coming back. I repeat the world is ending. Captain Puke is being nice. O.o_

Chloe: _It's her dad, isn't it? He must've gotten worse. She told me she was going to the hospital today. I told her to take you. You two need to stop feuding. You have more in common than you realize._

Brand: _Me, have something in common with the Aca-Nazi? Never._

"Bet you wanted to go to Barden because of the Bellas," Brand smirks.

"No, I actually thought A Capella was lame at first," Aubrey says.

Brand stops dead in his tracks. "WHAT?"

She shrugs as they enter through the hospital doors, "Dad used to take me to his business meetings at the college to teach me how to become successful. Then, we would watch the football games. I wanted to go to Barden and become a cheerleader. Chloe dragged me into the Bellas sort of like you."

"—Aubrey—cheerleader—huh? But—ugh—Aca-nazi. " This doesn't make sense. Aubrey, not an A Capella girl? Chloe is only the reason Aubrey is the captain of the Barden Bellas?

She rolls her eyes, "I didn't make the team, Loser, and with dad's philosophy, I—it just didn't happen. And call me Aca-Nazi one more time, I will rip your vocal chords out myself."

"Feisty. So your dad's philosophy?"

"If at first you don't succeed, pack your bags," she answers like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"Yikes, I get it. My dad doesn't support my music, either. That's kinda why I'm at Barden," he says fiddling with his hands.

"Really? What kind of music do you make?" She hits the elevator button, and Brand feels like he just ran into a brick wall. His chest tightens.

"—wait. Can we—er- take the stairs?" Brand asks, staring at the elevator. He runs his fingers through his hair nervously. Enclosed spaces do not sound appealing right now.

"Five floors up? Goodness no," The elevator dings, and she walks inside, holding the door. "Get in."

"But climbing stairs helps cardio," he offers, shuddering.

"Get in, now!" she pulls him into the elevator and pushes button number five.

Brand backs up to the wall, his breathing increasing by the second. Floor two, floor three—

BOOM!

The elevator lurches to a stop, throwing the two friends—well, teammates to the floor. The door doesn't open. They are stuck.

Brand's head is swimming as he backs up into the corner of the elevator, hugging his knees. He can't breathe, the room is spinning, and Aubrey looks more like Hitler than ever. He's hyper ventilating by the time Aubrey brushes herself off and stands up.

"Brand—" she says, looking at the small freshman in concern. "What's wrong?"

He just gasps, trying to keep from breaking out into a sob. He grabs a hold of the bar in the elevator to keep himself steady. He does not hear Aubrey, and his vision is blurry.

"Brand," she says trying to get his wandering attention. His head snaps up confused as she bends down, touching his arm, "Are you alright?" What can she say? She may be hard on the freshman while at rehearsal and competitions. Outside, she must attempt to be friendly with him for Chloe. What is it with this kid?

He chokes, trying to get air in, looking at his captain in total terror. "You need to tell me what is wrong," she orders, "Otherwise, I can't help." Brand tries to answer, but he can't.

Aubrey stands up, and presses the call button. At least they are in the hospital. She fears her tenor is in serious need of it. She explains that the elevator is stuck. Apparently, the storm has put the hospital on the generator's power. That still does not explain why the elevator is stuck, though.

"Brand, we are going to be here for a while, alright?" Aubrey's voice is uncharacteristically calm.

He nods.

"Can you speak?" Aubrey asks. No response. Sighing, she pulls out her phone to dial Chloe.

"Hello, Aubrey?" Chloe's cheery voice comes through Aubrey's phone.

"Hey, I'm stuck in an elevator with your boyfriend. What the hell is wrong with him?" she freaks, surveying the freshman who is currently in the fetal position on the floor.

"I'm not with Tom anymore. Why are you in an elevator with him?"

"Not Tom. Brand."

"Awwe, you called him my boyfriend. Does that mean you're warming up to him? Told you that you two had more in common than you realize."

Aubrey gags, "Ew. No, don't make me puke. He's curled up in a ball on the elevator floor shaking, covering his ears."

"Oh no. He's claustrophobic," she says softly. "Put him on the phone."

The insecure blonde kneels down beside the freshman DJ. They are not so different after all. They both have anxiety disorders, they both have daddy issues, they both have a passion for music, and most of all, they both love Chloe. "Hey, Chloe is on the phone. She wants to talk to you. Are you alright?" she says kindly.

Brand shifts himself back into a sitting position, backing up against the wall again. He looks at his blonde haired blue eyed captain in disbelief. "P-Panic attack," he chokes, taking the phone. What he'd give right now to hear Chloe's voice. "Chlo?"

"Hey," her voice is gentle. "How's my favorite recruit?" Her voice calms him a little, but it doesn't help for long. Aside from heavy breathing, there is silence on the end of the line, so Chloe continues. "I miss you."

"I-I miss you too."

"You know you're totally losing tough guy points for this," Aubrey deadpans to Brand.

If they weren't in a closed in elevator, Brand would have snapped back with a snarky comeback, but he cannot bring himself to do it. He feels like he is going to die. He feels like he can't breathe. He feels like he will never see Chloe again.

"You are not caged. When they get you out, you can come be with me. Better yet, let me call you back, I'm going to drive there. I hate being stuck here when you guys are stuck somewhere. Be safe. Good bye."

"Goodbye."

"Who would have thought an elevator could turn big bad Brandon Mitchell into a sobbing mess?" Aubrey asks, looking down at her freshman recruit.

"You would be too if you got trapped in a basement when you were a kid." Aubrey raises an eyebrow at him. He sighs, "When I was nine, my cousin Lindsey and I were playing cops and robbers, and she was the robber. She ran into the basement, and I chased her down there. We got locked in there for the night because a blizzard hit. The basement was small and dark. It really messed me up. It messed her up too, but that was kind of my fault and for a different reason."

"What?" Aubrey asks, not following.

He cocks his head up at the Aca-Nazi. "She works at a Wendy's now," he grumbles with a guilty look on his face, like he's not telling her the whole story.

"I don't want to know," she states, smirking at the short DJ.

"So, do you have any secret fears? " he takes in a sharp breath, shifting his trembling legs out in front of him. He has to get his mind off of this elevator, "You have seen mine. It's only fair."

Aubrey ponders answering him for a few seconds. Should she tell him? Would he use it against her? " Oh… alright," she composes herself, "…I have a very irrational fear of clowns."

His head snaps up, holding back a laugh, "What?!"

Aubrey groans, looking up at the ceiling. Her annoyance is replaced with a look of horror. There are two silver keys taped to the elevator ceiling.

Getting stuck in this elevator was no coincidence.

She dials Chloe for the second time. "Hey, I'm on my way," Chloe says brightly, "Is Brand okay? I'm worried about him."

Her alarming tone reaches her best friend's ears. "Go back to the apartment and get our boxes. Call us before you leave. If we do not answer, call the cops," she says calmly. She glances over at Brand, hoping they are not seconds away from being mutilated in an elevator.

AN: So yeah, I know cliffy. Did you enjoy the Aubrey/Brand interaction in this chapter? What do you think is in the boxes?

Hope you all liked it. I love you all. Thanks for all the faves, follows and reviews. Each one makes my day, like you have no idea.

I had a lot of fun writing it. :D


	8. Let Him Play

**_So this really took some time to write. This is why you guys had to wait a month because I wanted to make sure it was perfect. I weeks on this, so I hope it's perfect._**

**_Enjoy Chapter eight._**

**_Chapter 8: Let Him Play_**

_Dayyyyyyyyyum._

Brand's mouth is agape, ogling up at his captain in total awe. Aubrey Posen is standing triumphant on top of the elevator, glowing with confidence. Two keys in her right hand, she cocks her head at Brand in confusion. She didn't see what the big deal was. But Brand did. Aubrey literally just jumped onto the handle, and flip kicked out of the elevator.

"Well, come on!" She says, her patience dwindling, "Do you want to die?"

Brand's mouth opens and closes a few times, his eyes still glued on Aubrey, not knowing what to think. He is dumbstruck.

She rolls her eyes dramatically and crosses her arms, "OH please, don't look so surprised! I told you it was my life's dream to cheer for Barden. It's just a product of fifteen straight years of gymnastics, tumbling, and yoga." Holding out her hand, Brand grabs it, and she helps him up out of the elevator.

"Ninjas," Brand mumbles, shaking his head.

"What was that?"

"You're a freaking ninja!"

"I don't whether to take that as a compliment or an insult—"

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

But Aubrey doesn't have time to contemplate that. The elevator door dings open, and the sound of a something big and blunt banging on the inside of the elevator in a slow and steady rhythm causes the two teammates to look in horror at each other. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. The Rose Killer.

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

Brand grabs his captain's wrist forcefully and pulls her to the ladder. She hesitates before climbing it. Brand's looks terrified. "GO!GO!GOOO!" He pushes her, well, butt up the ladder. Sue him. He's scared out of his mind.

"I'm going! I'm going! Geez, stop groping me," she says, climbing the ladder quickly. Brand doesn't care that she has a skirt on right now, because he gazes down and sees two black gloves clamped onto the sides of the elevator hole.

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

The clanks ring hard in the freshman's ears, and he winces. Heart threatening to beat out of his chest, and fear almost paralyzing him where he stands, he looks up at Aubrey climbing the ladder, swallows, and forces himself to keep going.

The killer, dressed in all black, and his face covered by black mesh, is standing down on top of the elevator. He's around six feet tall and has broad shoulders. It's absolutely terrifying. The killer starts climbing the ladder, but Brand notices he isn't holding anything, and the clanks have stopped. Aubrey gets to the next floor, but the Rose killer's crushing grip is around Brand's left ankle.

"BRAND!" Aubrey shrieks.

He gasps and almost falls_._ Brand loses his grip on the ladder, and is now hanging by his right hand._ This is it. I'm done for. I'm sorry Chloe._

But he can't go down without a fight.

He chambers back, releases his poor grip on the ladder, and stomps his foot into the Rose Killer's face. At the same time, before he could fall, Aubrey dives, securing both feet against the landing, and catches the tips of Brand's fingers. The Rose Killer hits the top of the stuck elevator with a deafening thud. He only fell about eight feet, but they are certain he's knocked out.

"Thank you," Brand gasps out.

Not releasing his grip on Aubrey's bony hand, he grabs hold of the metal pole on the ladder. He can tell Aubrey is having a hard time keeping him upright, so he lodges his foot on the step of the ladder. Before long he's to the fifth floor. He rolls onto the cold grace of the hard metal floor next to Aubrey who is also sprawled out, nursing the arm she caught Brand with. The blue eyes lock with the green ones, and they both let out a nice big, relieved sigh.

They start laughing. _If you don't laugh, you cry right?_ And so they laugh, an afraid and pained laugh, but still a laugh none the less.

Brand looks at Aubrey again and can't resist tackling her into a thankful hug, careful not to squeeze her damaged, possibly sprained arm. Brand can feel her tense. Maybe because Brand doesn't usually hand out touching; maybe because she never thought the short DJ would ever do more than tolerate her. All that matters to Brand is that even though they practically hated each other, they just saved each other's lives. _You can't not bond after that._ She must think so to, because she relaxes into the hug.

The hug is long, and suddenly, Brand realizes what he just did. He pulls away quickly. He looks over to the ladder. He clenches his jaw, and his whole body tightens. He glances at Aubrey who nods fearfully. He takes a deep breath. Trembling, he knows what he must do, even if it scares the living hell out of him.

He inches step by step to the ladder. Shutting his eyes and pursing his lips, he psyches himself up. _Come on Brand. Stop being a pansy._ Courageously, he glances down at the elevator. The Rose Killer is gone.

His head snaps up in alarm at his captain. The matching alarm in her eyes lets him know she understands. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his ankle, his hand clasps around Aubrey's, and they run into the hallway shouting to the doctors and nurses to call 911.

It causes chaos, and everyone around them keeps asking what happened. The patients come out into the hallway, and holler. Old people are screaming. Aubrey and Brand maneuver themselves through the sea of people, toward the steps; their eyes graze the door to the stairs, and who do they run into, but one: Thomas Marks.

Both Aubrey's and Brand's hand's wrench each other's. Their breathing and heart rates increase as if they were in sync with the other, like choreography, like harmony. Brand doesn't meet Tom's eyes, and puts a foot out to keep going.

But Tom stops him with a muscular hand. A muscular, bruised hand.

"We're just going Tom."

"No, I don't think you'll be going anywhere, Brandon—" Brand spreads himself out, shielding his captain.

"And why not?" The freshman says more bravely than he feels.

"Because we need to talk. About you and my girlfriend."

Aubrey laughs, "Don't you mean ex-girlfriend?"

"She's my girlfriend. We didn't break up. We're just on a break right now," he seethes.

Brand's eyes are still on Tom's bruised hand. It looks fresh. "Why are you here, Tom?"

_Clank. Clank. Clank _rings in Brand's mind.

"Well, uh, this is embarrassing. I had to go to the ER because, I, uh, was having pains, and then everyone was going on about the screaming up here." He grabs at his junk.

Brey's jaw drops as she drops Brand's hand, and her hands go to her mouth. Not Chloe. No. "ACA-SCUSE ME?"

Brand erupts in anger, and he raises his fist. Tom laughs as his eyes lock onto Brand, "What are you gonna do, hit me? Listen, Chloe hasn't let me touch her in over a month. Because." He pokes Brand in the chest. "Of," Again, "You. Not that it matters," he continues, "It's only chlamydia, and can be taken care of with medication." He curses, obviously not intending on unveiling that information to them.

"What happened to your hand, Tom?" The shorter guy asks, growling, not really buying Tom's STD story. He never takes his fist down once. Aubrey latches onto Brand's arm, not wanting another near death experience. Two is enough for one day. It still doesn't convince the raging freshman to drop his fist.

He laughs, "What, you think I'm your little serial killer? I'm a baseball player, you retard. Injuries happen. Matt Barton accidentally stepped on my foot when I was sliding into second during practice last night."

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

"Whoa there boys, we don't want a scene, do we?" The familiar voice comes from the steps, directed at the two college kids. Officer Berry slides in between the two of them, flanked by Sheriff Miller and Agent Armor. Yet again, Aubrey and Brand can breathe a sigh of relief. The authorities are here.

Officer Berry looks at Brand and Aubrey's tired faces, and orders them to go down to the lobby. "Your red head friend is waiting."

They nod eagerly, and dash down the steps.

"You still have the keys?" Aubrey's teammate practically yells.

"Of course."

"OH THANK GOODNESS. I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE DEAD."

"Oh, thank God, Chloe," Brand rushes into her warm embrace, still shaking from the run in he just had back there. People around them are staring, but they don't care. How he missed that strawberry smell, and the feel of her arms around him. There was a moment back there when he never thought he'd feel it again. He pulls back, taking in those pure light blue eyes. He just stares in adoration, and a blush creeps into Chloe's cheeks. He's never going to take her for granted again. Aubrey comes in, and put her protective arms around both of them. They understand how lucky they are right now to be breathing.

But Brand stops dead in his tracks as he sees two teachers standing outside the hospital doors. His dad, accompanied by the step monster, but that's not who he is concerned about: Professor Judd, Chloe's creepy Psych teacher. The three of them meet his gaze, and start walking inside.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

His hug tightens around his two teammates. "We have to get out of here."

They all nod, and start heading to the rainy parking lot. Brand acknowledges his dad, and the step monster quickly hugging them both, "Dad, Step monster, love ya both, byeeeee," he runs away before they can open their mouths and start asking questions, and they don't stop running through the very crowded—and by crowded, Brand means crowded, cops, ambulances, a ton of college students, protestors, and the local news team is here- until they get to Chloe and Aubrey's cars parked side by side.

The goth baseball kid Aubrey dubbed a satanist is among the most vocal of the protestors complaining that the hospital security let a serial killer in the building. and Brand kicks himself. Not one suspect can be eliminated. He is just glad they got out of the hospital in time because the FBI is now locking the hospital down. Yes, he will be questioned soon. They all will be, but it doesn't matter. They are safe.

They get into the car in silence. Brand gets in the passenger's seat, Chloe in the driver's seat, and Aubrey in the back. They have an unspoken agreement to leave Aubrey's car there and come back for it later.

Brand glowers at the two black boxes sitting on the dash.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

He gulps. "I don't want to open them right now. Not like this," he says. The girls nod in understanding. He glances over at Chloe and pulls her into a long needy hug. He just wanted to feel her arms around him again. He surprised himself today. He initiated a lot of contact, but he guesses that is what happens when you almost die.

He shifts his gaze to Aubrey, "Sorry you didn't get to see your dad today."

"It's okay," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

They get back to the apartment, and find all of the Bellas and Trebles, even Bumper waiting on them with the only explanation being, "It's all over the news. What the hell happened to you guys?"

Brand cuddles into Chloe on the couch after receiving a long hug from Jesse. All Brand can say is, "Aubrey Posen's a badass ninja, and she saved my life."

Aubrey claps a hand to her forehead, and begins to tell them all the story; she is uncharacteristically shy about it.

Amy takes something out of her bra and hands one to Aubrey and one to Brand. They are Twinkies, "They'll make you feel better."

They laugh. Amy cracks jokes, Stacie brings booze, which Brand politely declines. Cynthia Rose shares about her passion for song writing, Bumper opens up to them all about his insecurities as a child which everyone is still wide-eyed from, and Lily and Donald flirt in the corner. Something about drag and preforming. Brand and Aubrey just aren't in the mood to party. Nothing works to cheer them up.

Jesse has them all stay up and watch a comedy to help de-stress them, but honestly, Brand doesn't think de-stressing happens that fast. He gets up from the couch, hugs Aubrey goodnight, mumbles, "Thank you again," for the millionth time, and pulls Chloe to the bedroom.

Chloe is surprised, but Brand just whispers, "I don't want to be alone tonight. Don't make me go away.", and he wraps his arms around her torso, burying his head into her neck.

"You're always welcome to sleep here with me, Brand. Now cuddle with me, and go to sleep. I'll be right her beside you when you wake up." She kisses his cheek, and he believes he's slipped into heaven.

Until…

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

1: 30 a.m. He jerks awake, trying to keep his sporadic breathing on the down low. Chloe is breathing deeply beside him.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

3:30 a.m. The Rose Killer is not dead. His eyes rest on Chloe's sleeping form. "I love you," he whispers. She stirs and pulls him toward her in her sleep. "Wish I could tell you for real instead of hiding it."

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

5:30 a.m. Why is he doing this?

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

7:30 am

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

"What have I done?" he gasps, bolting out of bed. He has to see what is in those boxes, but he has to do it with Aubrey. It wouldn't be fair to do it alone. _I'm going to make that guy wish he was never born._

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

Brand's going insane. He can't get that loud jarring 'Clank,' out of his head.

Brand goes to the library, and puts a stack of about twenty criminal justice, how to catch a murderer self-help, how to think like a killer, and forensic science books on the counter. The old and greying, nice librarian frowned at him. "I changed my major," he says with a shrug. Which is true. Brand had went to his advisor and changed his major to criminal justice when he got up. He left a note for Chloe, of course, and made her a toaster stroodle before he went out the door.

He's going to catch this guy if he dies trying. No one does that to him and his friends and gets away with it.

He throws the stack of books on the piano before rehearsals. No one questions it. In fact, they all want to organize a study group together. Then, rehearsals don't go well. Brand didn't sleep well, he's irritated, exhausted, and bloated. All he wants to do is dive into those books. Wow, he sounds so queer balls right now. _Get it together, dude_.

"I should've taken that cardio tip more seriously," Fat Amy pants.

"How much have you done?" Aubrey asks.

"You just saw it," Fat Amy deadpans.

"Chloe, you have to hit that last note," Aubrey says walking to Chloe, water bottle in her hand. Brand feels guilty as he sees Aubrey rubbing at her arm.

"I can't," Chloe says holding her water bottle microphone. "It's impossible. It's because of my-my nodes."

"Her nodes," everyone choruses.

"Well, if you can't do it," Aubrey takes a drink of her water, "than someone else needs to take your solo," She sits the water bottle on the piano.

Chloe glances back at Brand with a soft smile, "I think Brand should take my solo."

_Hell no. I love you, but hell no, Red. I have to catch this guy. There are more important things than a stupid a capella competition right now. _

"Yeah, Brandi would be excellent, but uh, someone else might be as equally as excellent—" Fat Amy starts.

"It's true," Brand says, gesturing happily to Fat Amy.

"And they might be shy, and not want to come forward and say they wanted a solo," she finishes pointedly.

"Well," Aubrey shrugs, "Brand doesn't want a solo, so…"

Brand snorts, "I'd be happy to do a solo if I got to pick a song and do an arrangement," he says, knowing Aubrey wouldn't go for it, so he would have an excuse to study. Music just took a backseat to Chloe and the rest of his friends' safety.

"Well, that's not how we run things here," she says.

"Aubrey, maybe Brand has a point. Maybe we could try something new," Chloe says, bobbing her head like she does when she listens to one of Brand's mixes. It makes him smile that she's coming to his defense, but in all seriousness, she needs to stop. He has a murder to solve.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey says almost shocked at Chloe defending Brand. "You can sing Turn the Beat Around, and that's the last I want to hear of this," The smile on Aubrey's face is fake, almost jealous, and Brand loves it. But only because he has more important things to be doing. Otherwise, he'd probably be going at Aubrey's throat right now. Nah, he wouldn't be going at Aubrey's throat. There are some things in life that bond to people together forever. Getting stuck in an elevator and fighting of a killer is definitely at the top of that list.

Aubrey and Brand are alone in the rehearsal room, after she calls it. They wanted to do this alone. Because they are their boxes. This is their thing.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

The two lodge their keys into the slots.

"Ready?" Aubrey says.

"Ready," he confirms, nodding. The keys turn.

The boxes open, and they both turn their heads away, scrunching their eyes. They both half expect a rotted stench to fill the air, but it doesn't come. They slowly open their eyes, and peer inside the boxes.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

Brand's heart stops. It's not some horrific body part or a sign of a murder. No, it is much worse: a simple threat, a photo of Chloe's innocent and perfect face with a black rose petal on top of it, and a note that says, "Stay away." He gulps, and looks at Aubrey. Inside her box, is the exact same threat.

What they don't know is that the rest of the Bellas and Jesse found their keys today too. They just haven't had the nerve to open the boxes yet.

Chloe is staring at the black silver key she found in the shower. She's gonna wait for Brand to open. She's not sure she can do it without him here with her. She knows he and Aubrey are opening their boxes together because they found them together. She just hopes they're okay, and that nothing has happened to them.

They are two of the only people right now who can keep her sane. Jesse comes through the door with an identical lock and key.

The only two people that can keep her sane bear into each other's eyes. How could they stay away from Chloe outside of Bella rehearsals?

Brand grabs a titanium bat from the locker room and storms into the apartment with Aubrey. They lock all the doors and board up the windows. The four a capella nerds work quick and fast. They would only go out of the apartment for rehearsals, work, competitions, and class.

_This guy went too far, and it just got real._

_The Rose Killer wants to play?_

_Let him play._

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

AN: Hope you all loved it, and I hope it was worth the wait.


	9. Obvious

**Thanks as always for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I hope you all are still with this story and love it as much as I do.**

**This one is very Chloe/Brand centric.**

Chapter 9: It's Obvious.

"_Sheila_, I'm fine!" Brand says for the thousandth time, staring a hole into the fresh vase of orange and black flowers Stacie must have bought for Officer Berry. They sit in Berry's office, waiting to be released. He's exhausted. He, Aubrey, and Chloe have been there all night long answering the same questions over and over and _over_. He's sick of being interrogated. His fingers brush over the small Barden Bella pin on his shirt. Aubrey with control over her sick father's massive bank account, had purchased a new version of the boob cams. These ones are just in the form of pins and not tucked in bras. She wanted them all to wear them when they got interrogated in case something with the killer happened. Brand is not complaining. He wore it willingly today.

He's just sick of being questioned and stuck once again in jail, and he's not even a criminal. He rubs a hand over his face as he glances up at the step monster, who is now standing in front of him.

"I'm just worried. Your father is too, and you haven't been talking to either of us," the blonde business woman replies, taking a sip of the Starbucks coffee in her left hand. Her hand brushes Brand's cheek, causing him to jerk his head back. She frowns. "I know I'm not your mom and that I never will be, but I wish you would give me a chance. You are the closest thing to a child I will ever have."

Yes, yes, he's heard it all before. Sheila has had five miscarriages, and one time she almost died, so she will never have children. He gets it, but he doesn't want her invading his life. He had a mom. That's it. It's done. He sighs leaning into Chloe's shoulder.

"This is what I'm talking about," Sheila says, gesturing to Chloe, "You two are obviously very close, and you haven't said a word about her to John and I."

Brand's jaw clenches, "Maybe if you guys would have been there before my mom died, I would have," he snaps, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He feels Chloe's warm hand on his, and guilt floods him once again. He never told Chloe about his mom. He hasn't told anyone about her.

Sheila Mitchell gazed down at the top of her step son's head in sympathy. "Your father screwed up, but everyone deserves a second chance. Even him. Even after he left you."

"That's easier said than done," Brand pushes out, his thoughts on a day three years ago.

Not many people can remember what they were doing on October 5th 2009, but Brand can. He remembers everything that happened that day down to the way he scarfed down his grilled cheese and tomato juice in an eating contest at lunch with his friend Amanda Warren. He still can't stand the smell of grilled cheese to this day because when he got the call in his eighth period English class, he excused himself from class, ran to the bathroom, and vomited it all up. He puked until he was vomiting up stomach acid. His English teacher didn't know what happened. The administration didn't warn him. He just found Brand crying violently on the tile floor next to a puke covered toilet.

Brand stayed with his English teacher until his dad and the step monster's flight came in as decided by the principal of the school.

It was an overdose.

Jamie Mitchell was suffering from depression after Ethan left. Heroin was how she dealt with it. How could he forgive his dad after what had happened? After he took his mom away from him?

"I know what he did may seem unforgivable, but you've got to try. Otherwise, you two will never be happy."

Brandon nods, avoiding Sheila's eyes.

The step monster opens her arms awkwardly and hesitates a few times. Her eyes meet Chloe's and Chloe giggles.

"I'm going to hug you now," Sheila says, wrapping her arms gently around Brand's shoulders. Her step son's eyes go wide, and he doesn't blink until she pulls away and walks from the room. He looks at Chloe in shock.

"So, I have a question….Are all the Mitchells that awkward with people touching them?" Chloe asks with a wink.

Brand nods, smiling sheepishly at her, and even though she doesn't ask, he tells her about October 5, 2009 and his relationship with Jamie Mitchell-his mom.

"She sounds like an amazing woman, Brand," Chloe says once Brand had told her about the time she insisted on them playing hooky from school to go see _Sweeney Todd_ on Broadway.

"She was," Brand says, his eyes lighting up. Chloe listens, giving him all her attention. She has never seen Brand talk about anything or anyone passionately like this, aside from music. It's new," She was my best friend. Really, she would even ask me all these inappropriate questions because she thought it was funny. I mean, she even asked about my sex life. There were so many bad mom comments. Like, 'Seriously, you've been dating that girl for a year. How have you not tapped that yet?'"

Chloe laughs, nodding for Brand to go on.

"She wasn't like other parents. One day, she got me so red with the comments, she took me out for Chinese. After that, it became a thing. If she made four Bad Mom Comments in a single day, she'd take me out for Chinese food." His voice drops, "I really miss her…" Dark blue eyes meet light blue. Chloe leans in, her eyes begging for permission to close the gap with Brand and….

"Who do you miss?" Aubrey comes back in from the, "bathroom," winking not so discreetly at them. It looks as if she has something tucked under her shirt. This is the only reason Brand doesn't go off on her for ruining his moment with Chloe._ Greeeattttt. What did she do now?_

"No one, Brey," Chloe sighs.

"Fine don't tell me," she shrugs, before dropping her voice to an excited whisper. "I copied the case file on the Rose Killer!" Brand's eyes bug out as Aubrey pats her stomach where the file is hidden. "It's all here. I just put the Posen moves on the security guard, so he'd give me a tour, and he let me right in."

Brand claps a hand to his forehead, hard. "I am one hundred percent sure that this is extremely illegal."

_We are so dead._

_XOXOXO_

Officer Berry comes into his office an hour later with a door slam. "Get out of my office. You're free to go!" He doesn't even look at him.

Chloe stifled a laugh as they left. "Looks like Mr. Angry Pants and Stacie must be fighting."

XOXOXOX

Aubrey Posen is good at this detective thing. Like beyond good.

There are coffee stained papers strung all over the kitchen table as Brand and Chloe have been pouring over the case file all night. Aubrey went to sleep at seven for the competition tomorrow.

At first, Brand disapproved of Aubrey's dumb blonde decision of stealing evidence. Yes, they are now holding copies of evidence that could get them arrested, but it helps. They know this guy's profile now, and it is useful. They are going to need all the help they can get if they are going to stop this guy from killing anyone else, Chloe in particular.

They know exactly when and where he strikes. They are trying to find a pattern with little success, but Brand's thinks he's going to strike at regionals.

Chloe Beale yawns, grabbing Brand's hand. "We have regionals tomorrow. Maybe we should try to get some rest. Plus, I have to brush my teeth again. I just drank coffee with you."

He rolls his eyes, but doesn't need to be told twice. Getting to cuddle with Chloe Beale is like the closest thing on earth to Heaven.

Who in the world, even some psychotic killer, would want to hurt her? How could you hurt someone as happy go lucky as Chloe Beale?

XOXOXO

The next morning, the Bellas pile into the bus to regionals, and Brand stands up in front of them all to lay down some ground rules. He tightens his tie and clears his throat.

"I know we are all excited to go lose this—"

"_Aca-scuse me_!"

"Sorry, Aubrey— go be mediocre—" this earns him an eye roll from his captain. "—at this competition, but there are some things we all have to talk about on this trip. Stacie, I know he is following us in his cop car, but you are not to acknowledge him. Are you okay with that?"

Stacie scoffs, "It's not like we're going to win this competition, so I'm obviously not getting celebratory sex tonight. I don't care."

The DJ nods, "Good. Second, no one, and I mean _no one_ goes anywhere alone. I don't care how bad you have to pee. No one is going anywhere alone. I can't have anyone getting snatched up, and as I understand, the only ones on this bus that didn't get threatened with a petal are Lily and I. Just don't do it. We'll have to come to your rescue, and we are not trained, as in we suck... as in you will die."

The Bellas eye him weird before he continues.

"Lastly," his eyes flicker to Chloe, "Please you guys. Be careful. So…" he says, taking a breath. "Are there any questions?"

"Yeah I have one," Cynthia Rose's hand shoots up, "When are you and Chloe going to stop having eye sex and just do it already?

"I-uh—I,"

"Seriously, just do us all a favor and have sex in the restrooms or something. I don't want you guys to be getting it on in the bus seat," Fat Amy puts in.

"Oath, yeah oath. I took an oath!" Brand yelps.

Chloe starts laughing- hard. Brand sits down beside her, flustered. Fat Amy pulls the bus out of the parking lot.

"I can see your toner through those jeans, ya know," Chloe teases, poking him in the side and beaming like crazy.

"That's my penis," he deadpans. "And these are dress pants, not jeans."

The red head giggles, putting her hands up in mock surrender, "Well, excuse me."

She pulls a book out of her bag and opens it.

Brand almost dies when he sees the title. "Seriously?!"

A blush creeps onto Chloe's face, "What?"

_"Fifty Shades of Grey?"_

"I like the plot."

He cocks an eyebrow,"So you like porn?"

"No!"

"The plot is porn. It is literally Twilight fanfiction smut." Chloe's face is progressively getting darker.

"No it's not."

"Dude, the plot is porn."

"No, it isn't, Brand."

"OH EDWARD! TAKE OUT MY TAMPON, SO WE CAN GET IT ON!" he mocks.

At this point Brand's not sure what's more red, Chloe's face or a stop sign. This is fun, "His name is Christian Grey, and it didn't happen like that."

"Are you actually defending it right now?"

"No, it's just-

"Porn," Brand sings.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is."

"No, it -"

"Shut up both of you!" Aubrey turns around in horror at the two of them. "Jeez, I'm not sure what would be more annoying. You two right now or you two after I lift the oath and you get all that sexual tension out of your system."

"Does this mean you're lifting the oath?" Brand asks, not bothering to hide his enthusiasm.

"You wish."

XOXOXOXOX

Brand feels gay doing this stupid choreography. He's on edge. Nothing has happened.

_Where is the Rose Killer?_

It would be horrible, but Fat Amy pulls through with an amazing solo, ending it by a button popping shirt rip.

People give a standing ovation.

"Way to go, Stace!" Berry cheers her on. _Oh gosh. Please no celebration sex. I don't want to win this competition anymore._

Aubrey doesn't look pleased with Amy.

The Trebles do better and take first place.

The Bellas actually advance, and they celebrate together.

XOXOXOXO

"We did it," Brand sighs, walking out of the auditorium.

"We were aca-awesome," Chloe says, turning around to look at him.

"Are you looking for what I think you're looking for?" one of the old dudes talking to the Trebles asks.

"Yeah, are you looking for a fight?" Chloe and Brand gawk at each other as they walk down the steps. This is not good. The Trebles and The Tonehangers hate each other. Plus, the Tonehangers are going through the midlife crisis stage, so they would have the audacity start a fight with college kids.

"Please say you're looking for a fight!"

"Please!"

Bumper hands the trophy to Jesse, "I would fight you, but I tore a quad." _Of course Bumper would be the pansy_.

"Hey Ghandi," the short black haired Tonehanger says to Jesse, "We doing this or what? Hit me!"

"What?! I'm not going to hit you," Jesse retorts. "Why would I hit you? I'm not going to do that!"

"Let's get it on!" the black bald one says, shoving his teammates aside. Crap's about to hit the fan.

Amy looks like she's going to go fight, but Chloe grabs her shoulder, giving her a look that says, 'Stop now.'

"I've wrestled crocodiles and dingoes simultaneously," Fat Amy informs.

Donald starts wrestling with the balding white one, and the two hit the wall.

"I'm not going to hit you!" Jesse yells, sitting the trophy down on the white table.

"But I need to feel something. Hit me as hard as you can!" the pleading Tonehanger picks up the trophy and tries to hand it back to Jesse, "Take this. Take this. I want you to hit me!"

If Brand doesn't step in now, it might end badly, "I'm just gonna.." and he walks down the steps toward Jesse and the Tonehanger.

"The kraken has been unleashed," Fat Amy cries, following the DJ down the steps.

Chloe puts her hands over her face.

"Feel the Fat Amy force!"

Chaos erupts as the fight bursts out.

The Tonehanger and Jesse are wrestling with the trophy. "Hey!" Brand says, getting the guys attention.

WHAM!

Brand's fist slams into the old dude, sending him to his knees.

"Ow!" Brand curses as he holds his hand. Fat Amy grabs his shoulders, making sure he's alright.

"Oh wow!" Jesse looks at him like he's insane .

"That was fantastic!" he says like he's turned on by the fact that he was just punched.

Amy grabs the trophy to get at the guy Brand just sent to the floor.

"FEEL THE FAT POWER!" Amy roars, raising the trophy above her head.

"Amy don't! Amy!" Brand says getting in between them, trying to diffuse the situation. It's not working. He gets a hold of the trophy, and secures it. _Where's the killer?_

"FAT AMY, KICK ME IN THE BALLS!" the Tonehanger pleads on his knees. _This is freaking insane._ It reminds him oddly of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Fat Amy does as she's told, sending her high heels straight into the man's genitals, knocking him on his butt.

"Oooooh," Aubrey says enthusiastically as she watches the fight. Chloe doesn't look impressed.

"AMY!" Brand yells.

Amy tries to grab the trophy from Brand's hands again.

"Come on, I need a sharp weapon! I want to shove it up his butt!" she complains, tugging on it.

"Wooo!" The Tonehanger yells on all fours, sticking his butt up in the air for Amy. "Shove it up. Cherry on top!"

"No!" Brand says, tugging it back to him.

They end up wrestling for it. The trophy snaps in half, and part of it smashes through the window, landing in a pile of glass outside.

_Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!_

Everyone makes a break for it, and Brand stands there paralyzed at what happened. He gapes at the broken window. He needs to move, but he can't.

"I'm vertical running!" Fat Amy shouts, running down the hallway, "I'm vertical running!"

XOXOXOXO

Brand gets put in handcuffs.

Oh no. He's separated from Chloe.

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

_Clank. Clank. Clank._

Everything is a blur.

The next thing Brand remembers seeing is a pair of familiar bright blue eyes that instantly make his night better.

Chloe shows up at the jail to get Brand out. "Jesse called him. I'm sorry. I told him not to. Aubrey was going to bail you out. I'm sorry!"

Brand grabs Chloe's hands, "Don't apologize." He's just happy to see her smiling face. He embraces her in a rough hug, "Thank God. Thank God."

"Brand?"

"I'm so happy you're alright." he says, relishing the feel of her body against his, listening to her breathing. It's a sound better than music.

"That's alright, but you're hurting me," she says through the bone crushing squeeze.

He pulls away blushing, "Oh, sorry."

"Is everyone alright?" Brand asks. They walk toward the exit.

"Oh yeah. They are just surprised by you. You pulled a Mike Tyson in there, DJ" she says, punching him in the shoulder.

"They were acting like the BDSM freaks. I had to."

"And we are back onto Fifty Shades of Grey…seriously, it's not porn."

Brand smirks, "Speaking of rough sex, your boyfriend has chlamydia. Might not want to go near him right now."

"For the last time, Tom and I broke up!"

"Just teasing."

"Hey, hey, hey! Rocky Balboa, pleased to meet your acquaintance," Jesse says, greeting them, punching the air.

Brand rolls his eyes at his roommate. "Next time, don't call my dad. I'm just glad to see that the Rose Killer didn't get to either of you."

Dr. Mitchell pulls up. He slams the door as he gets out, "Dad, it's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is a big deal. I get a call in the middle of the night, saying my son got arrested for destruction of property—let me finish, Brand—I'm not mad. I am just glad that they called me to say you got arrested instead of mutilated and raped. I'm not happy with the situation. I just want you to talk to me, and be careful."

He looks down at Chloe and Brand's intertwined hands with a small smile. "Chloe, I'm glad I got to see you today. You did well on your test last week. Keep up the good work," He turns to Jesse, "Thank you for calling me. Let's go, you three."

Brand can't hide the look of shock on his face when he locks eyes with Chloe. His dad has never approved of anyone he hung around, and he approves of Chloe. What the heck does this mean? What's going on? He looks to the sky expecting to see Jesus appear, but it doesn't happen.

He gets into the backseat of the car, and grins like an idiot when Chloe lays her head on him, and wraps her arm around his waist.

An hour into the drive, both Jesse and Chloe are asleep.

"You know she likes you back, right?" Professor Mitchell says out the blue.

"What?"

"It's obvious to everyone. She waited up for you. I see the way she looks at you or asks about you in my class, the way Aubrey talks about you two in disgust. She's good for you."

"Dad, it's against my oath, and I can't date right now because—"

"Don't let some psycho ruin your life for you, Brand. Your mom would tell you the same thing, and she'd probably just tell you two to just get it o—"

"Dad, don't turn into her!" he says, turning as red as a tomato.

They settle into a silence, and all Brand can think is, _Where is the Rose Killer?_

When they get back to the apartment, they are greeted by the rest of the Bellas. "HEYYYY!" they chorus.

Brand does a little dance, moving his shoulders back and forth just to be cocky.

"What up, Shawshank?" Fat Amy asks.

"Did you get yourself a bitch?" Cynthia Rose probes.

"Did you get yourself _Chloe?_" Ashley quizzes.

"Did they spray you with a hose?"

"I did a turn at county," Lily whispers.

"Did you and Chloe finally get it on?" Jesse inquires, messing up Brand's hair just to be annoying.

"We are just friends," Chloe says.

"You guys waited up for us?"

"Duhhh Shawshank…we need you still breathing if we're going to catch a killer."

Brand nods.

"You guys, I'm glad you're back," Aubrey says, touching her chest. "I'm calling an emergency Bella meeting."

They all moan.

Aubrey ignores it. "First up—"

"Yessss," Fat Amy groans.

"Our score sheet revealed that the Sockapellas almost beat us. Fat Amy—"

Amy smiles big and awkward.

"You need to do it exactly how we rehearsed it next time, okay? No surprises."

Brand sighs, "I'm sorry Aubrey, but Fat Amy's improvising is the only reason we beat the Sockapellas, and everyone knows it. Just let me do an arrangement already."

"Hate to say it, but he's right," Chloe says. The Bellas nod.

"You're just saying that because you both want in each other's pants," Aubrey says with fire in her voice.

"Hey, everyone wants in Chloe's pants. I mean look at her. She's gorgeous. That doesn't mean she's not right," Brand says, not daring to look into those bright blue eyes.

"Brand's got a point," Cynthia Rose says, staring at Chloe's butt.

"Just stop. We are going to do it my way. No other," Aubrey says, "These songs will get us to the ICCA's which is our goal."

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower," Brand announces.

The rest of the Bellas, minus Aubrey and Chloe laugh when he's gone.

"Yeah, a cold one," Stacie mutters.

"Hey!" Chloe says defensively.

"Oh, Chloe's sooo gorgeous! Anyone would want in her pants," Stacie sings.

"Shut up," she murmurs, her hands over her face.

"Brand and Chloe sitting in a tree K-I-"

Chloe Beale covers her ears," Shut up, _shut up_! You all are acting like two year olds! Shut up!"

"You love us."

"And she loves Brand."

The Bellas will be the death of Chloe Beale if the Rose Killer doesn't get to them first.

**AN: So, I know this is a soft one, but it has to be soft to get intense again. Hope you liked it as it's a little different from the other chapters. I personally think teasing always happens before anyone gets together. Did you guys like the Sheila moment? Also, I love joking about 50 shades of Grey if you can't tell. I find it hilarious. It's such Beca/Chloe Brand/Chloe thing to do.**

**ALSO, YOU'RE WELCOME FOR UPDATING SUPER EARLY. Consider it my gift to you for making you wait so long last time.**


	10. Bodies

**AN: I'm back guys.**

Chapter 10: Bodies

Brand got his conceal to carry license. It took a month. So did Chloe and Aubrey, and the three of them bought guns. They are currently down at the shooting range, trying them out.

It was Jesse's idea really. Jesse got his as soon as he turned 18. Turns out his mom is a real worrier. She still calls him twice a day every day to make sure he's okay, and has even went as far to show up every other weekend, and every time without fail, has left in tears.

"Really, Chloe, a pink gun?"

"It's fashionable."

"A gun is not there for fashion. It's there for protection."

"Shut up. I still shoot better than you."

"It's true, Brand, All of those shots either went to the head of the target or to the chest. Your round went all over the place."

"No one asked your opinion, Aubrey," he spits, firing another sporadic round into the target.

"How did you even pass your test?" his captain asks, surveying his target.

"Not every one can be good at everything. I'm good at music, you are good at being a ninja, and Chloe is apparently good at shooting a gun."

"It's the power of the pink pistol. You should try it."

The freshman DJ just groans in response as Chloe fired a perfect round into the target's head. Chloe chuckles at him, "I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I took archery as a kid because, like I said, I was invisible. Shooting a gun and shooting a bow aren't so different, ya know. It took me a couple tries, but I got the hang of it. You will too. Just don't make fun of my pink gun."

Living with women is awful sometimes.

XOXOXO

Brand walks across campus toward the radio station the day of semi-finals with Jesse when his phone starts blaring Titanium.

He grins down at it in spite of himself.

"Juliet's calling Romeo," Jesse says with a snort, pushing him in the shoulder.

Brand snorts, shoving his roommate's face away, "Will you stop? And Romeo and Juliet is not a love story. It's about two stupid hormone crazed teenagers who lusted after each other," he asks Jesse before answering Chloe's call.

"So you admit you love her?"

"NO!" Brand quickly covers his phone speaker, glaring at his roommate. "You're the one who has the hots for the Aca-Nazi."

"She's not that bad," Jesse says, his eyes on his shoes. Brand knows. Since the elevator, they've come to a mutual understanding of each other. Brand thinks it gets on Chloe's nerves, but at the same time, their new bond makes her happy.

There's a high pitched squawk on the other line that causes Brand's world to come crashing around him. Did the Rose Killer get to Chloe? Is she going to die?

The rage bottled up inside Brand since the beginning bubbles to the surface. "CHLOE! ARE YOU OKAY? LISTEN YOU SICK FREAK, YOU TOUCH HER AND I'LL CHOP OFF YOUR BALLS, SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT, AND CRUCIFY YOU!"

A girly laugh comes from the other end of the phone, "_I'm fine, Brand. I'm fine. I have been having a stalker problem with Tom, though. I see him everywhere."_

Brand's knees almost give out as he breathes a huge sigh of relief, "Don't do that, Chloe. I was freaking out."

_"__Just turn on your radio!"_

They walk across the parking lot of the radio station when a familiar song reaches their ears. Brand and Jesse beam at each other. Jesse was there when Chloe and Brand recorded this a few weeks ago. Brand had put Chloe's voice on his track because she was feeling down about her nodes and being cooped up in the apartment. Jesse even helped with the bass line.

"HOLY—"

"I know!"

Brand turns around to see Chloe running toward him.

"My song's on the radio!"

"I know!" Chloe squeaks, plowing into him. The three friends jump up and down in celebration.

"That's awesome, Brand!" Jesse shouts.

"And it's all Jesse's doing," Chloe quips, "Luke called this morning, and told me about it, so I showed up here."

Brand looks at Jesse, "How did you—"

He shrugs, kicking up gravel, "I've been trying to get him to listen to your music all year. It's amazing, and I took the flash drive to him, told him to listen to it. He didn't do it, so I sort of forced my way into the booth, and threatened to play it over the radio if he didn't listen to it. Turns out, he played it anyway."

"You are literally the best roommate ever!" He can't contain the joy bursting within him and he pulls them both into a hug. He hasn't been this happy in a while. He's been so focused on this murderer that he forgot to enjoy himself.

A car horn sounds, and Aubrey's head pokes out of her car window on the edge of the parking lot, "Chloe Kate Beale, we are on a tight schedule. We have to pick up the bus, and you don't have your crap packed. Get yourself together and come on. Good luck tonight Jesse!"

Jesse waves at her cheerfully, "You too!"

"Alright, you two have fun on your shift," she glances back at her best friend who is about to lay on the horn again, "You know how Aubrey is," Chloe says, kissing Brand on the cheek. "Bye."

Brand stares after Chloe as the redhead prances back to Aubrey's Prius with a last wave at them both.

"You really need to do something about your toner, man," Jesse says, clapping on the back.

_I know. I'm just scared._

Luke invites Brand to play his music in the booth over spring break. Can this day get any better?

"Listen, I'm going to check that DJ out tonight. You should come with," he says.

"I can't," Brand says, scratching the back of his head.

"Flight attendant training?" he asks, surveying Brand's Bella attire.

"Barden Bellas. The Semi-Finals are tonight."

"Really?" Luke asks like it's the lamest thing on earth, "I gotta hand it to Chloe. She's got you whipped."

Brand groans, "I'd love to be whipped, I can't be whipped if she's not interested. She doesn't even have a boyfriend anymore, and nothing between us has changed."

Jesse begins howling with laughter, and it jars Brand, "That's because you guys have never been _real_ friends. Yes, your friendship is real, but how many friends do you know who sing each other's masturbation songs in the shower together? When I was into you, I would've killed for you to let me do that."

"Okayyyyy, that's not something I want to know about my employees." Luke's dart in-between Jesse and Brand like he's watching a tennis match, "Remember no sex on the desk you two. I mean it."

XOXOXOX

On the Bus.

Brand stares at Chloe while she hums along to her I- Pod. Everything about this girl is stunning, from the fiery red hair that is now tied back in a bun to her soft pale skin to those eyes. Those dreadfully blue eyes. Brand could look into them all day, and don't even get him started on that uniform. Dang.

"You're drooling there, Frodo," Aubrey whispers, turning around to smirk at him as they pull into a gas station.

He shrugs, not even denying it. The three of them have become so close, he doesn't even care anymore, and Chloe is so immersed in whatever song she's listening to that she doesn't even hear Aubrey.

"Don't you flat butts worry, I got this," Amy says, parking the bus, "I'm just gonna pump and dump."

Brand feels as if he should be the one pumping gas because he's the dude, but Amy is happy to do it, and Brand is distracted by Chloe as usual.

"Hey, Amy! SABBATOGE!" Brand's head whips around to see Bumper throw something out the Treble bus window. _What the hell?_

"I'VE JUST BEEN SHOT!"

Brand is the first one off the bus holding the titanium bat in his hand (the gun will only be used if necessary as he's not confident about it) , bolting around the tail end followed by CR, Lily, Aubrey, and Chloe to find Fat Amy on her back covered in some orangish chunky substance… he sniffs the air as he lowers the bat…_Mexican food? Surely not…_

"Fat Amy, I got you. I got you," Cynthia Rose says, bumping into Brand. She bends down, like she's going to kiss her or he guesses do CPR, judging by her hand on her nose. "Okay, okay, mmmhhhmm."

"No, no, no, no, nooo, I'm sitting up. I'm sitting up! There's no need for that," Fat Amy panics.

"Okay, alright. Cool," Cynthia Rose says brushing herself off.

"No mouth to mouth," Fat Amy sits up as Brand attempts to brush the substance off of her jean jacket. _That's going to be awful to clean later_. Amy studies the mess, "Oh shoot, Bumper threw a big ass burrito at me!" she complains as Brand, Lily, and CR steady her and check her over.

"At least it's not herpes," Chloe offers as payback for the nodes comment.

"I'm gonna kill him, I swear! I'm gonna finish him like a cheese cake!"

"I thought we agreed kill was an inappropriate word," Aubrey says with unease.

They all get back on the bus, and the girls, alright mostly Chloe, coerce Brand into singing Party In the U.S.A with them all. He feels like he's on a bus full of cheerleaders. Then, he reminds himself that Chloe was on her high school cheer squad, and Aubrey's been a cheerleader practically her entire life. No wonder they are also peppy on competition day. He secretly enjoys it none the less. The Bellas are the best decision he's made in college.

"Party in the U.S—"

The bus rumbles, and the singing stops.

"What the hell?" Aubrey barks.

"Oh no! It's the killer!" Stacie yelps, as she begins to dial Jace.

"Calm down, we have weapons! Don't dial him, Stacie," Brand warns, choking up on the bat for the second time this trip.

"Guys, we're just running out of gas." Fat Amy informs them all.

"But that's impossible, you just filled the tank," Aubrey says clutching her stomach.

"Yeah, or maybe I didn't because I was hit by flying Mexican food.."

Brand is desperately trying not to laugh as they come to a full stop. This is serious. They are now stranded, but it's because of a burrito….so….

"Aca-scuse me!" Aubrey asks.

"Aca-believe it," Fat Amy sighs. "Man, what are we gonna do?"

"Maybe we could call—"

"Don't even say it Chloe. How dare you!" Aubrey snaps.

"Oh, no that actually is a really good idea," Amy says, reaching for her purse, "I have Bumper's number."

"Why do you have Bumper's number?"

"Uhhhh…ehhh…ehhh…"

XOXOXO

The only sounds on the Trebles' bus are coming from Donald's beatboxing while Lily watches him in adoration. It's pretty much the cutest thing Brand has seen today, other than Chloe Beale of course. Wow, he sounds so queerballs right now.

"So Bellas, what boring estrogen filled set have you prepared for us this evening?" Bumper asks.

"Um excuse me," Amy says.

"Huh."

"You guys are going to get pitch slapped so hard your man boobs are going to concave."

"Nine miles guys," Donald calls from up front.

Lily mimics his beat boxing skills.

"You're pretty good," he tells her.

She whispers something Brand can't catch, something about fires and joy.

"That's adorable."

Their toners are very noticeable.

"I like it when boys dress up in drag and perform for me," she whispers.

"Slow down baby, we got all day."

XOXOXO.

The Bellas are so screwed.

The lead singer from the Foot Notes is amazing. Like Ne-Yo good.

"Five minutes Bellas," Benji calls.

"Where'd he come from?" Stacie panics at Aubrey who shushes her.

"It's over. There's no way we can beat the Trebles and the Foot Notes." That's the first time Brand's ever heard Fat Amy be pessimistic, and it's unsettling.

Aubrey starts talking, but Brand cuts her off completely. This whole serial killer thing has made him realize that he doesn't give a crap about anything anyone thinks anymore.

"Maybe, there is a way to beat them, you guys," Brand pipes up. They all look at him like he's insane. He clears his throat awkwardly, "Well, we were amazing at the riff-off. That wasn't rehearsed either. Let's do something completely different. Stacie and CR are our best dancers. Follow their lead. I got the song." They all ignore Aubrey's indignant protests, and right now she is letting out noises that remind him vaguely of dying chickens.

In truth, Brand doesn't have a song, and there's only one that keeps popping into his head which given the circumstances, _that _song is totally inappropriate. He steps up to the mic. Oh dear Lord, screw his inappropriate brain.

Too late to turn back now. He rips the sleeves off his dress shirt, and he whispers into the microphone-

_"__Let the bodies hit the floor._

_Let the bodies hit the floor._

_Let the bodies hit the floor._

_Let the bodies hit the FLOOOOOOOOOR_!"

Aubrey's eyes bug out as the freshman screams bloody murder into the microphone. The rest of the Bellas back Brand up. The audience digs it. Oh no, Aubrey gags.

"_Beaten, why for_

_Can't take much more_," he sings, feeling much more comfortable with the song choice. The audience is loving it because of what's happening at Barden. Which makes him feel like they are all terrible human beings, but he is too for having the audacity to sing this song so…he can't blame them.

They are all taking off the tight uniforms, sleeve ripping and head banging. People are shocked. Lily looks right at home. She's stealing the show. Stacie is predictably, singing straight to Berry in the front row.

"_Here we go, here we go, here we go now_," Chloe sings.

"_ONE_!" the girls shout. They all count it out on their fingers.

"_Nothing wrong with me_," Brand leads and he can't help thinking how B.A. this sounds right now. The commentators can't stop complementing them, and they just began the song.

_"__TWO!"_

_"__Nothing wrong with me."_

_"__THREE!"_

_"__Nothing wrong with me."_

_"__FOUR!"_

_"__Nothing wrong with me."_

_"__ONE!" _

_"__Something's got to give."_

_"__TWO!"_

_"__Something's got to give."_

_"__THREE!"_

Brand catches Aubrey's eye. Her anxiety level is not looking good.

_"__Something's got to give, NOWWWWWW!_

_Let the bodies hit the floor!_

_Let the bodies hit the floor!_

_Let the bodies hit the floo—"_

"BLARGGGGGGHHHH!"

Yep. It happened again.

Vomit. Everywhere. All over the front row and all over Officer Berry who looks murderous. The commentators are flipping out. Aubrey's flipping out. Everyone's flipping out.

All Brand and the rest of the Bellas can do is stand there open mouthed.

"I'm so sorry Jace," Stacie says. He stays still, eyes open wide, expressionless, and thoroughly repulsed.

Aubrey runs off stage crying, and Brand goes after her.

XOXOX

"Aubrey open up!" Brand bangs on the restroom stall. "I know you're in there," he says, both hands, laying on the door. He sighs as he hears sobs from inside the stall.

"Just go away… haven't you messed me up enough?"

"Aubrey—"

"I don't want to hear it, Brandon."

"You know we wouldn't have won with Eternal Flame. That song is tired, and people were on their feet with Bodies… Isn't it more fun when it's not about tradition and legalism? Isn't it easier?"

A muffled, "Yes," is all Brand hears.

"Then why did that happen? Are you okay?"

"I'm not used to l-lletting go…on a moment's notice I choked…my dad is right. I am a failure."

"Aubrey Anna Posen," Brand scolds, "You are _not_ a failure!"

"Yes, I am."

Brand starts listing things off with his hands very loudly, "You have a 4.5 G.P.A, you sing like a boss, you work out at least an hour every day, you are captain of the Barden Bellas who successfully made it to semi-finals even if we just got disqualified, you can shoot a gun, you freaking stole a case file right from under the cops' noses, you are a ninja, and you saved my life. I love you like a sister Aubrey. You're the most badass person I know…other than myself."

"You don't mean that," she sniffs. "I've been nothing but a bitch to you."

"I do too. Now come out of that stall before I pull a Chloe and barge in. It may not be a shower, but it's the next most awkward thing in the world."

"Hey, I resent that," Chloe says, walking in with a great big smile on her face.

Aubrey walks out of the stall, her hair down, and mascara everywhere. She may smell like vomit, but her two teammates don't care as they pull her into a giant hug.

They stand there for a good twenty minutes, before walking out to the bus.

Everyone's shouting. Cop cars are everywhere. Sirens are blaring.

There's a body being carried out of the Treble bus in a body bag.

Cynthia Rose is sitting cross legged on the cement ground, leaning against the bus, weeping as other Bellas surround her.

It's Rape Whistle girl. It's Welcome Committee. She was here to cheer on Cynthia Rose. Cynthia Rose had a girlfriend and no one knew about it because Cynthia Rose didn't want people to give her a hard time.

Cindy Jones. She was Cynthia Rose's secret. This is CR's punishment. Brand wraps his arms around Chloe's waist, holding her to him as tight as he can, trying to block out the noises. His ears are ringing. He can't hear a thing. The claustrophobia makes everything worse as the place starts to swarm with people.

Just when they think the panic is over, Donald comes running over screaming his head off.

"WHERE'S LILY? WHERE'S LILY? HAS ANYONE SEEN HER?" He collapses on a bus seat as one of the cops attempt to calm him down. "NO! NO! NOT HER! NOT LILY!

"Donald! I know. Donald, calm down!" the officer says, but nothing does anything to stop his hysteric crying. The same can be said for Cynthia Rose.

Oh no. Not a Bella. Not Lily. He's got Lily

This is chaos.

Brand is numb. Everything feels like a dream, but it isn't. This crap is real life.

They aren't leaving North Carolina tonight.

It takes no longer than two minutes and they are all in tears. Even the Trebles. Bumper ran to the back of the bus, and his back is turned from everyone, but that doesn't matter. He's not fooling anyone. Not even Amy has a joke for them all.

And it's all Brand's fault. He asked her about the body. If he hadn't, none of this would have ever happened.

He kisses the top of Chloe's head, and she buries her head into his bare shoulder. Her hot tears are the worst thing he's ever felt. He can't keep from shaking with anger.

Lily's missing, and she's probably dead.

**AN: Told you it was going to get messy. There's only a three to five chapters left. I'm thinking sequel. What do you guys think? We're almost to 100 reviews. Think we can do it with this chapter? I think we can. That's the goal. Now, if you guys don't mind, I have to turn off pitch perfect so I don't have to watch the Jeca kiss. It's so painful to watch. What did you guys think, though? I wanna know.**


	11. All We Can Do

AN: So for all those who want to know. Brand is still short like Beca is. He is just the dude version of Beca. He has short brown hair and dark blue eyes. His ear monstrosities are gauges instead of ear spikes because I feel like ear spikes are more feminine. I imagine he looks like Josh Hutcherson with blue eyes.

102 reviews. Wow. Just Wow. Thank you all so much. You are all just freaking awesome.

_Chapter 11: All We Can Do_

After an hour of answering questions, the Bellas and the Trebles find themselves back on the bus, but this time it's silent. Puffy eyes and pale faces are common themes throughout the bus. There is no beatboxing coming from Donald. He sits next to Jesse with his head in his hands. His whole body shakes, and Brand can tell he is trying to hide his sobs. Bumper and Fat Amy's argumentative banter is non-existent. In fact, Bumper's arm is wrapped tightly around the uncharacteristically quiet Australian. Stacie sits next to Brand and Chloe, her hand on Aubrey's forearm. Aubrey cries into Jesse's shoulder, blaming herself because she is the captain. It was her responsibility to keep her team together, and she was too busy bawling in the bathroom because she blew it again.

No one thinks it is her fault. Everyone blames themselves if they are honest.

Guilt. That's all Brand Mitchell can feel. He cannot shake the thought of Lily in a ditch somewhere all because he wanted to see a dead body. He is such an idiot! If he was alone right now, he would be punching a hole in a wall. There's something that happens when you realize you may never see a person that's been in your life again. Everything from the initiation, to the bajillion rehearsals, the questionings, to the competitions, and their stupid game of truth or dare when Brand asked to show them the body runs through Brand's mind. Lily was—is so kind. She's so quiet. She may be a little creepy, a little misunderstood, but she is still part of Brand's family. All of the Bellas have become like his family, and he may have lost a sister.

The tears rolling down Cynthia Rose's face while she looks for a place for them to all sleep for the night are a result of his actions, his ignorant curiosity. The pain everyone is feeling over this is ultimately because of him. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Arghhhh!_

He glances down at his buzzing phone. _47 unread messages and 54 missed calls from Step Monster, Dad, Gramps and four others._ He turns his phone off and growls in frustration, resisting the temptation to smash his phone.

A slightly larger hand intertwines with his. His head turns to stare into Chloe's sympathetic and understanding eyes. It's her way of silently telling him that she does not blame him. His jaw unclenches, and he calms a little, still wishing he could forget.

They stop at the Holiday Inn off the next exit. They all walk into the hotel lobby. No one says anything. Aubrey books the rooms, giving Chloe and Brand a room to themselves. The look in her eyes when she meets Brand's tells him it's a thank you.

He nods, hoisting his and Chloe's luggage back onto his shoulder.

Brand tosses Chloe her gym bag when they enter their room. The small freshman lets out a deep shaky breath before sitting down onto the second bed, his gaze out the window on the traffic passing by. It is different for those people. They are blissfully unaware of the severity of the situation that has just taken place. They are not responsible for the death of another person. Their friend is not missing on their behalf. They don't know how messed up the world is. Well, maybe they do, but not like Brandon does in this moment.

He does not know how long he has been sitting there when Chloe's gentle voice snaps him back to reality. "They are sending out a search party to look for Lily, and I'm going to go. Aubrey is waiting for us in the lobby."

"No!" He springs to his feet. His tone softens when he realizes how harsh he sounded, "You're a target, Chlo. You can't."

Tears flow down her face, "We have to do something, and I don't want to be holed up in this dank hotel just to watch my friend die!"

Brand walks up to Chloe, taking both her hands gently, and pulling her in close. "I don't want to see you die," he chokes, "You mean too much to me. I can't lose you as well."

"I'm not going to die," she sighs, searching his dark blue eyes for the answer to whatever is wrong with him tonight. She has never seen him act like this.

"Chloe, if you go out there, and he finds you, you _will_ die. Don't you get it?" Brand throws up his hands, "He's after you more than he is any of the Bellas because he somehow knows I'm the one who suggested to go after the body in the first place. He got Lily because she discovered the body. We are the top two people he wants to mess up most, and he probably killed her."

There's a moment of silence before Chloe speaks, "If you're the one he wants to get at so bad, then why am I the one most likely to die?"

Brand does not say anything. He can't. He can't tell Chloe he's in love with her. Not now. Not like this. He just silently pleads for Chloe to stay there, hoping she picks up his signal. She has always been able to read him like a book.

"That's what I thought," Chloe says rolling her eyes, before turning to walk out the door, but Brand catches her wrist.

"Don't go," his voice cracks.

"Why Brand? I'm not a coward. I shoot better than you. Is it because I'm a girl? Is that what this is ? Because I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

He lets out a frustrated sigh, "It's not about you being a girl. It's about you being _the _girl." His eyes widen when he realizes what he just said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Arghh…I'm just not like you Chloe. I don't let in anyone. I push them away to save myself the pain later. I don't do physical contact. I'm an introvert, and I would be a college hermit if it wasn't for others forcing me to be social. I'm just not a people person. I throw up walls, but you… You're everything I'm not. You barged into my life when I was at my most vulnerable. I mean, you can't get much more vulnerable than naked in a shower."

Chloe lets out a strained laugh through her tears, stepping closer to him.

"The point is, you go straight through my walls like Stacie went through men before Officer Berry ," he rolls his eyes, and Chloe pulls him close, much like she did at Hood Night. Brand clears his throat, ignoring the way his heart is trying to beat out of his chest, "Alright bad simile. I'm not good at the talking thing... You know that."

Chloe nods with a wide grin, leaning in so their noses are touching. Chloe's hot minty breath blows into the DJ's face. This action alone causes Brand to gulp. It is hard to breathe.

"Please don't go. I don't know what I'd do without you. You force me to be around people. You make me enjoy human company. You make me better than I ever thought I could be. Heck, you gave me a love for a capella, and I love that about you, baby…I… I love everything about you."

"You're so gay." she says softly, grabbing his face with both hands, and pulling him to her so fast he does not have time to react.

And her lips crash full force against his knocking them both into the hotel wall.. _Is this really happening right now?_

Chloe moans into Brand's lips, and he's certain that's the hottest sound anyone has ever made . He feels like an electric current is going through his body, and he can feel his jeans getting tighter._ One kiss? One kiss and she turns you on? You're such a little boy._

Brand forgets about the killer, the threats, and all the drama. It's just Chloe—Chloe and her fiery red hair and perfect soft lips- Chloe and her glorious disregard for personal space as their hands run up each other's shirts, exploring each other's bodies, and Chloe's fingers trailing down his waist, and fiddling with his belt.

But it's wrong. Not in this hotel. Not like this. Not when they don't know where Lily is, or if she's even alive. And even though, he wants to lose himself in everything that is Chloe Beale, he just can't.

And even though, he doesn't want to, he grabs her hands, stopping her. "We can't. Not..not right now."

Her arms find their way around his neck, "I know. I'm sorry…that was inappropriate. Wow, I'm such a cougar."

"_Hey, _I'm only three years younger than you, and you are not a cougar, and it was not inappropriate. Trust me, I want to, just not when our friends are in the situation they are in." He is not going to mention that he is a virgin, either. That would just make the situation worse, considering he loves her, and she's taken to calling herself a cougar already.

She eyes are to the floor, blushing.

Brand lifts her chin to face him, grinning into those gorgeous blue eyes, "Hey, I love you."

"I love you too…If I'd known you kissed like that, I would've done that _a lot_ sooner," she beams, capturing his lips again. "Can we forget Aubrey's stupid oath?"

"Haven't we already?"

"I hope so," Chloe giggles, before jumping onto the bed. She pats the pillow, "Come on, let's go to sleep. I'm exhausted." She throws off her jeans and pulls on flannel pants right in front of him. He dies right then and there. This is so not helping the tightness in his jeans. He can't move.

"What? It's not like you haven't seen it all before…You know I'm pretty confident about all this," she gestures to her body fully clothed this time.

He exhales, not realizing he was holding his breath. "You should be," he laughs, shaking his head. _Screw it._ The DJ gets into his boxers, before crawling onto the bed. He wraps his arms around Chloe's waist, putting a little more space than usual between them. He's also careful not to lift her shirt, not knowing if he can handle the feel of her hot skin against him right now, and he snuggles into the back of her neck. "You know… you don't taste like egg at all. I think that Alice chick was just jealous or something."

She giggles, "I'm glad you think so."

"I'm so glad you decided to stay," he whispers in her ear.

"Me too, Brand, me too."

Before he falls asleep, Brand has to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't just dreaming.

This is too perfect. Chloe is too perfect.

XOXO

It feels like seconds before Chloe and Brand are being jerked awake by Cynthia Rose and Stacie.

"GET UP! GET UP! AUBREY AND JESSE FOUND LILY. PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOU TWO. I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. WE HAVE TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!"

Relief floods through Brand's chest. "Is she okay?"

"We don't know, just get your crap. We have to go. NOW!"

Chloe and Brand fumble out of bed. He hastily shoves on jeans, and grabs a T-shirt. Chloe just grabs her hoodie and shoves it over her head. She doesn't bother with jeans. They shove on their shoes, and are out the door within two minutes.

They run through the lobby disturbing many paying customers and the hotel workers. Out into the parking lot, Cynthia Rose is leading the pack. She finds her way to a familiar SUV with familiar faces in the front seat: John and Sheila Mitchell.

They get in as fast as they can. Brand and Chloe squeeze into the very back. Brand expects the yelling to begin, because he hasn't answered the texts and calls, but it never comes. All John tells them all is to, "buckle up."

"What do we know right now?" Chloe asks, her hand gripping Brand's.

Stacie answers at once, her voice quivering, "All we know is they found Lily face down in a field about a mile from the school. Her Bella scarf was tied around her mouth. It looks as if she was sexually assaulted. I guess the killer thought she was dead, and fled the scene after he—as usual."

"But is she going to be okay?" Brand probes, trying with all his might not to start yelling. That killer—he—he—no one puts his hands on his Bella sisters. No one. His knuckles turn white against the car handle. _Why do people have to be so sick?_

"We don't know," the step monster says.

XOXOXO

They rush into the ER where all of the Bellas and Treblemakers, tear streaked and tired greet them with long hugs. Jace is standing in the corner, surveying them all, probably to make sure they are all alright.

"She's alive," Cynthia Rose keeps repeating, "She's alive. For now she's alive."

"We found her," Aubrey sobs into Chloe's shoulder, holding tissues. "It was so scary. I thought she was dead, Chloe. I thought she was dead."

Brand finds an empty seat beside Fat Amy who can't seem to sit still. It's all a waiting game right now.

Lily's in the OR, and they are all antsy. The doctors don't know if she'll pull through.

"What if she dies?" Donald chokes, standing up, tears fogging up his glasses.

"You can't think like that Donald," Unicycle says, smacking him on the back of the head, "She'll be fine."

"Lily's strong. She'll make it through this," Jesse says.

"What are we supposed to do?" Donald asks. "I can't sit around and do nothing."

"I think we need to pray," Fat Amy suggests, rising from her chair, looking around at them all. "That's all we can do, right?"

"I agree," Unicycle says, grabbing Donald's shoulder. They are going to do this for Donald's sake.

She grabs Brand and Stacie's hands, and the other people around them join until they are joined in a circle, Fat Amy even pulls Bumper in. "I'll lead it I guess," Cynthia Rose says, as they bow their heads, awkwardly, not used to this sort of thing.

"Uh… dear God, um, our friend Lily is, well, You know she's not in the best shape right now, and we would really like it if you laid your healing hand upon her and brought her out of this mess that she did nothing to put herself in. Please let her come through this, and in Your Son's name we pray. Amen."

"Amen."

"Amen."

"Amen."

A person starts clapping in the otherwise quiet room. "Amen," a familiar voice says. "Amen."

Their heads snap up and Chloe's eyes widen in horror at the guy who just walked into the hospital.

"What's a matter, Chloe? Not happy to see your boyfriend?"

AN: So, it happened, and I hope I did it justice. I hope you all loved it, and I hope you all have a great Sunday. It's my favorite day of the week :D


	12. Triple Treble

AN: This one is a short one, but very necessary, and i can't shove this one and the next one in the same chapter together without it being choppy and awkward. Sorry.

CHAPTER 12: TRIPLE TREBLE

"Yo, looks like we got some triple trouble this time, or should I say Triple _Treble?"_

"SHUT UP, JESSE!" Aubrey barks, standing up from the bench and brushing herself off. She is beyond anxious and needs to get back to her labtop to review evidence. There is no time to waste. She is barely able to keep the puke from coming up. This is ridiculous. Aubrey Posen is no _hooligan._ She is nowhere near the likes of Brand Mitchell. The only bad thing she has ever done was steal case files to help catch a criminal. Not_ become _one.

"Shawshank, it looks like you got yourself two bitches this time," Cynthia Rose muses, walking up to the jail cell bars which contain her three disheveled and exhausted friends. Aubrey looks as if she has sex hair, her left bra strap is showing, and she is limping. Brand is sporting a black eye and a busted lip. Black and blue imprints of a pair of hands are on Chloe's wrists. _Triple Treble,_ as Jesse called the group of cons, are not in the best shape. That fight got out of hand. Berry was too distracted holding back Fat Amy with three other guys, so it took a while to break it up.

Fat Amy pokes her head out from around the corner behind Cynthia Rose, "That must have been one hot hosing."

"This isn't funny!" Brand protests, gripping the bars until his knuckles turn white. Their three friends just laugh. Dear lord, he is dealing with children.

They didn't mean for it to happen. Really, they didn't.

It was all still a blur, and Brand can't keep his facts straight. He is still shaking with anger from what happened. He was so stupid.

Tom was just being Tom. He tried to force a kiss on Chloe, made some rude remark to Aubrey, joked about the serial killer, and then swung at Brand. The DJ reacted fast. He ducked the punch and football tackled Tom, smashing the wooden table in the middle of the room to bits. Somewhere along the line, Tom had him pinned to the ground, and Chloe got involved. Aubrey was just backing up her best friend. It didn't help that people were chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!", Stacie was filming the whole thing giggling like crazy( "Get at 'em Aubrey! Oooh. Nice punch Chloe!"), and, like already said, the Trebles and Berry were holding Fat Amy back from, 'Throwing Tom around like a boomerang.' In her mad Australian rage, Amy must have gotten Berry in the face. Blood was oozing from a cut on the off duty officer's temple. It was chaos.

The next thing they knew, they were all being read their rights and being arrested for, 'Public indecency, destruction of property, and assault,' while Tom was being arrested for all of that and they were taking him into be questioned for murder.

"You all know I didn't do it! I'm too stupid for that! Chloe, you were the only reason I passed my Junior year!" Tom had howled.

"He didn't do it, Brand. You know he didn't do it," Chloe whispered as they were thrown in the back of the cop car.

The DJ stared at Chloe in disbelief. After all that douche had done to her, she still felt the need to defend him. It made him fall in love with her all over again. There was a goodness in Chloe Beale that he could never achieve. If he was Chloe, he would let him rot in jail until they found the real killer. He wasn't that good. Chloe Beale was on an angel level of good. She was perfect.

And Brand knew in his heart Tom was innocent. He just wasn't ready to admit it out loud.

Now, Aubrey, Brand, and Chloe are trapped in a holding cell while Lily is in the hospital defenseless, and Tom is being investigated for murders he is probably too stupid to have committed. If Donald and the rest of the Trebles weren't still at the hospital with her, they would be scared for her life. Not that they aren't scared enough already. She's still in the OR.

They screwed up. He feels like he's going to throw up.

He also feels like a terrible person. Who gets arrested twice in two months? His life is going down the drain fast. It's his dad's fault for sending him to college, but one glance at Chloe, and he would gladly spend the rest of his life in jail if it meant a life with her.

He places a kiss on the side of her head. This is all worth it.

It's dark again before they get released.

A fat middle aged security guard waddled up to them with keys, "Charges were dropped. You three are free to go."

Brand doesn't look his parents in the eyes when he gets onto the Bella bus. He thought he would see disappointment and malice. He didn't see the love and pity resonating within them. He sits down and holds Chloe in his arms, mumbling about how he would never let anyone hurt her like that again. She doesn't deserve it.

When they get to the hospital, they are met with Bumper's relieved face outside of the ER doors. "She's alive! She's alive! She should be waking up in a few hours! They have her CCU. Donald's in the room with her. He hasn't left her side since she got out of the E.R."

Thank God. They can all breathe a little easier.

The killer had fractured Lily's skull and caused internal bleeding. The doctors thankfully were able to fix it. There were contusions and bruises from where she was...assaulted. Only one person is allowed in the room at a time, and Donald needed to be in there with her for some reason. They have really developed a fast bond, so no one has seen her. Brand wasn't sure he could without getting sick.

Brand's not sure how they were allowed back in the hospital, but no one says anything. It might be because Tom is the one who started the fight. He doesn't know.

XOXO

Everyone starts to fall asleep until Aubrey, Bumper, and Brand are the only ones awake. Chloe had fallen asleep on the DJ's lap and he absentmindedly strokes her hair wondering how in the world he got so lucky, but his eyes are on the blonde in the corner. Aubrey hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours and she's still working. He's got to hand it to her. That girl is determined.

She furiously looks through the boob cams, letting out frustrated but repressed sighs as she cannot find any evidence.

This is getting nowhere.

She takes out her ear buds, throwing her green eyes to the small freshman her best friend somehow fell for. "I'm going to get coffee," she finds herself whispering, "Come with me?"

Brand nods, cautiously slipping out from under the beautiful red head in his lap. She stirs mumbling out something about Ed Sheeran's hotness and flips over.

Aubrey and Brand stifle a laugh, before walking to where the elevator is. Brand halts, staring wide eyed at his captain, "Ho, don't you d-"

"Don't worry, DJ," she says, shaking her head, "I'm never getting in an elevator with you again."

"_Thank _God."

After safely walking up to the cafeteria, Brand gets a water, a soda for Bumper, and a V8 for Chloe. Aubrey grabs two coffees. "So you and Jesse?" Brand asks.

"I don't know."

"But-"

"I just don't know. He's a Treble and-"

"But he makes you happy. I've seen the way your eyes light up around him and-"

"Stop! Okay, you may not be able to stick to your oath, but I-I have to, and Unicycle...I just have to, okay?"

Brand puts up his hands, "Whoa, Aubrey!"

"Sorry," she mumbles. "I need sleep."

The DJ's eyebrows raise, "You don't think?"

"I just keep going over the evidence over and over again in my head, and none of this makes sense. I just can't help thinking, what if he's never caught?"

"Hey," Brand says, "If the cops don't catch him, we won't rest until we do. Me, you, and Chloe against the world, right? "

Aubrey smirks, "Triple Treble?"

He claps a hand to his forehead, "Please don't say Triple Treble again."

AN: This is short, but necessary. Happy reading. :) I hope you realize that this is Bechloe, well, Bitchell still and will be until the end. (BrandxChloe) Anyway, review, and tell me whatcha think, will ya?


	13. CLANK CLANK CLANK

THIRTEEN: CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

It has been a month since the Semifinals. It is Spring Break now, and the Trebles and the Bellas do not leave campus, even if they do have family. Yeah, the Bellas got kicked out of the competition, but they have bigger things to worry about than the ICCA's.

Lily got transferred to Barden Hospital and is doing well. They actually think she could be released tomorrow. It was a miraculous recovery that no one could have anticipated. Like already said, there are problems though. Lily doesn't seem to remember a thing about the night she was attacked, and she is even more quiet, if that was possible. Aubrey tried and tried to get things out of her, but everything that came out of Lily's mouth was even more random than usual. Lily just kept saying, " Pickles," and her own name over and over until she was screaming it. The doctors say she has a bad case of PTSD.

Brand has more on his mind than just Lily, though. He is busy sitting with Jesse in the booth eating lunch, playing his mixes on the radio, worrying about Chloe who had surgery on her nodes last night, and discussing the problem at hand. Tom had gotten indicted on some 'new evidence,' that none of them really knew about. Everyone has been celebrating that the cops had caught the Rose Killer. Everyone but the Trebles and the Bellas. It is all over the t.v., the papers, and social media. People are even having cookouts and letting off fireworks, dubbing them Rose parties.

To Brand, it was an eerie sight. None of this is any good. If anything, it put them on edge. The more time that passes without another incident, the more tense they get. Brand feels like a sitting duck because he knows the killer is out there somewhere, but Jesse seems to want to explore every option. "What if it really was Tom, Brand? You said it yourself. He popped up everywhere there was trouble. Plus, he hates your guts."

"That doesn't mean anything. Jesse, Tom is dumb. Whoever did this has to be intelligent. Oh my—None of this makes any sense," Brand groans, his head bouncing off the desk.

"You just need to chill dude," Jesse says, sliding off the windowsill, and laying his hands on Brand's shoulders. " Do you need a massage?"

The DJ tenses up, "No! I don't need a—"

"You let Chloe give you massages."

"Yeah, because she's my girlfriend," Brand stutters, shrugging off Jesse's hands.

"Calm down," Jesse sighs. "I wasn't being gay. You and Chloe are great together. I just give neck rubs to Aubrey when she feels like she is going to puke. They seem to help, and don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit."

That much Brand knows. He hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours since Chloe went in for her surgery. He knows he is pathetic, but he can't sleep right now if Chloe isn't beside him. All he hears in his sleep anymore is _CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

Brand opens his mouth to reply to Jesse, but is cut off as a way too happy Aubrey Posen dances and twirls into the radio station, "I've got great news aca-nerds!" She yells, pulling Jesse into a giant hug, "THE NE-YO KID WAS A HIGHSCHOOLER! WE'RE BACK IN THE COMPETITION!"

"That's great! Maybe you'll listen to me for once, and let me make an arrangement!" Brand celebrates, jumping awkwardly into the hug, playing the famous role of the third wheel.

"You wish," Aubrey snorts.

Brand should have known better than to get his hopes up. He rolls his eyes and goes back to his burger.

"You guys have a better chance of winning than we do," says Jesse, "Bumper took a flight to L.A. this morning to sing back up for John Mayer. Personally, I just think he was scared he'd be the next one to die."

Unfortunately, they all have that fear.

After the shift, they head to the hospital, wanting to surprise Chloe. They already texted the rest of the Bellas, but Brand wants to tell Chloe in person.

When they reach the hospital, though, they split off. This time, they are smart and decide it's best to take the stairs. Aubrey and Jesse go to the fifth floor to visit Aubrey's dad who Brand learns is suffering from stage three pancreatic cancer. He's dying. That's why Aubrey has been out of it lately.

"Hey," Brand grins, popping his head into Chloe's room. She's alone, which confuses him. Amy is supposed to be watching over her. "Where's Fat Amy?"

Her face instantly lights up, and she takes out her earbuds to hear him properly. 'Hey,' she mouths. She motions him over with a big Chloe megawatt beam. 'She's in the cafeteria.' _Typical Amy_.

Brand sits on the edge of Chloe's bed, kissing her on the forehead. "How are you feeling?" He asks, trying to hold in the news out of concern for his girlfriend's health.

Chloe picks up her phone, and types, before holding up her response. 'Throat hurts, but I'm good. What's up?'

"I have some aca-awesome news!"

Chloe mouths, 'What is it?'

Brand can't keep the wide smile from stretching across his face, and he practically shouts, "We are back in the competition!"

Forget trying to be quiet, Chloe squeals loud enough for people to hear her down the street, and she pulls Brand down into a passionate kiss.

He pulls away dazed, the taste of Chloe's tongue still tingling in his mouth, "If I knew that was going to be your response, I would have told you a lot sooner."

She smacks him in the shoulder. "You're so weird."

"But you love it," he smirks.

"Whatever."

"I do love you, fucker."

She rolls her eyes, "Love you too, asshole."

Just then, Amy comes in carrying a large soft drink and a burrito, "Hey bitches, I hope I'm not interrupting you two love birds," she says as she takes a seat near Chloe's bed.

"Nope."

"I was just teasing Brand about his virginity," Chloe says out of the blue, causing Brand to go pale. "I think that's why he doesn't like 50 Shades of Grey."

"Not that again, Chloe to both things," he yelps through gritted teeth. He let that secret slip the night after Semifinals, and Chloe has yet to give it up.

"YOU GUYS HAVEN'T DONE IT YET?" Amy bellowed, her mouth hanging open.

"Jeez Amy, shout it to the world, why don't you?" Brand whispers.

"Don't feel bad about it, Brandi," says Amy, "It's a good thing. It means Ginger hasn't defiled you with her lack of a soul."

"Thanks so much," Chloe says, not sure whether to be offended about it or not. She winks at Brand, "Anyways, I think it's hot."

"You do?" Brand asks weakly, quirking an eyebrow.

Chloe nods, coming too close to Brand's face, whispering in his ear so Amy couldn't hear her words, "It means I'll be the only that will ever rock your world."

Brand gulps, shifting uncomfortably on the bed.

Amy looks from Brand to Chloe to Brand again. Amy sticks her tongue in her cheek, making a vulgar gesture with her hands, "You two just need to get it on. You'd be great together. I mean you're Brand and Chloe. Together, you're Bloe, and everyone loves a good Bloe."

"EW, AMY STOP!" Brand shouts, his face going redder than a tomato. Amy and Chloe continue to make Brand uncomfortable until a doctor comes in saying Chloe is free to go.

They meet Jesse and Aubrey in the hall and visit Lily for a while. "Hey Lils," they all greet cheerfully.

She is still going on about pickles, and this really concerns Brand. "Lily and pickles," she sings in a slow funeral march tune, "Lily and pickles. Lily and pickles."

Aubrey's eyes suddenly go wide, and her head snaps up like a lightbulb went off in her mind, "I need coffee!" she announces, "Come with me, Brand!"

"Why not ask Jesse?" he moans, not wanting to take his head off Chloe's shoulder.

"Because like it or not, you are now my coffee buddy. Now come on, and I'll think about letting you lead a Bella practice."

Brand springs to his feet, not because he wanted to lead a Bella practice, but because he heard something in Aubrey's voice he didn't like. It was off, and she would never let him lead a practice. _What's going on?,_ "I'm up." His kisses Chloe goodbye, and heads out the door with her.

"What's going on Aubrey?" Brand hisses, jogging to keep up with the determined woman in front of him. Aubrey keeps her eyes on the space in front of her, and she grabs Brand's arm, dragging him along the corridor. But she doesn't speak. "Aubrey, will you please just tell me what the hell we are doing?"

Aubrey flies down the hallway and down the steps, not answering Brand's questions. They are out of the parking lot and into the woods behind the hospital, before she finally breaks her stride and talks, "We needed to get alone, because no one can know. We can't trust the cops now. We can't trust anyone. Listen to me very carefully, Brand. You and I both know the killer wants us dead before Chloe and Jesse. That much is obvious considering we have seen him in the flesh. Now, he's going to want us dead even more. Stacie is in danger. We have to stop him. I've been so stupid. I should have seen it before. It all makes sense!"

Brand shakes his head in confusion, "Who are we trying to stop?! What makes sense?!"

But something else begins to concern him more as both of their phones start ringing at once.

Shaking, Aubrey takes her phone from her purse. She switches it over to speaker phone. "Aubrey Posen," her voice quivers.

A hysterically crying Cynthia Rose is on the other line. "I CAN'T FIND DENISE. SHE WENT TO THE SHOWERS LAST NIGHT, AND DIDN'T COME BACK."

"We have to stop him, before he kills her!" Aubrey cries.

"Too late," a familiar cruel voice says from behind them, and Brand feels a cold gun being shoved into the back of his head, "She's already dead, and soon, you two will be too. You've meddled enough, and now you're going to pay."

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

_Lillies and pickles. Tiger lilies and pickle boxers._

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

_We have been stupid. _

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. _

_It was right in front of our faces this whole time, and we didn't see it._

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK_

_It's always the person you would least expect._

_ .CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

_That blood wasn't from holding Amy back. It was from fighting Lily._

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

_Now, Aubrey and I are going to pay for our mistakes._

_CLANK. CLANK. CLANK._

_**AN: I'm back.**_


	14. God Help Chloe Beale

**Chapter 14: God Help Chloe Beale**

Most of the Bellas and Trebles are stuffed in Chloe's hospital room, and by stuffed, Chloe means they are overflowing. Donald, Lilly, Greg, and Koolio are sitting in the hallway. (The doctors let Lilly out to visit Chloe, hoping that it will do her some good.)

It's pretty loud. Fat Amy, Jessica, Ashley, and Jesse are immersed in the Rugby game on the T.V., while they are all stuffing their faces with Taco Bell Bumper graciously went and got. At the moment, the Bellas and Trebles aren't taking any chances.

Chloe casts a worried glance at the clock. Brand and Aubrey have been gone for over an hour. Surely, it doesn't take that long to get coffee. She really just wants to throw her arms around Brand. She's probably just being paranoid—but she really just misses her boyfriend and best friend, because she's getting increasingly annoyed with all her other friends.

Bumper is going on and on about how John Mayer is up his butt about singing with him, which Chloe thinks is a lie. Donald and Lilly are fighting over whether Ellen DeGeneres could kill Obama or vice versa, and everyone won't stop throwing popcorn at the T.V.

"TOUCHDOWN!" Bumper cheers as one of the players in blue breaks away from the others and crosses what Chloe thinks is the goal line.

"IT'S CALLED A TRY!" Jesse and Fat Amy shout in unison. They look at each other and smirk.

"This isn't football," Jessica says, cuddling into Ashley's shoulders.

"Americans," Fat Amy mutters, pointing at the T.V. through a fist full of popcorn, "Anyway, he should have gotten carded for that. Those bitches."

"This isn't _soccer_," Bumper says to Fat Amy, his face totally serious.

Jesse, Fat Amy, Jessica, and Ashley clap hands to their foreheads.

Jesse starts talking to Amy, something about a hooker. They have prostitutes in Rugby? What? That's when Chloe stops listening, because really? What sport has prostitutes? The only sports she can follow are basketball and baseball, one because she cheered in high school and the other because of Tom.

She just can't wait for Brand and Aubrey to get back to save her from this…whatever it is.

"All I'm saying is Ellen is Dory, okay? She's a badass. You actually think Obama could kill her?"

"Obama owns area 51…I've been to area 51. They studied my gills. They're from Pluto," Chloe stares at Lilly, not sure if she heard her right. "Lillies and pickles. Lillies and pickles. Lillies and pickles…."

"WHERE'S CHLOE?" Chloe hears the sound of high heels coming towards the hospital room.

"Whoaaaaaa," all the guys in the room except for Jesse turn their heads. Chloe sighs. She knows why and was slightly surprised she didn't hear, "Holy Jamalama!" which is the usual reaction to her mom's appearance.

Curls bouncing in the wind, navy blue dress, pink lipstick—Lori Spencer-Beale walks into the already crowded hospital room. "How are you, Chloe? She looks around the room at all the people…you sure are popular this year." She hesitates, "Please tell me this isn't a meeting to like chop off some guy's—"

"MOM!" Chloe yelps. The rest of the people in the room are either wide eyed or confused, except for Fat Amy and Jesse who are too into the game to pay attention to anything.

"What? It's not my fault last time you gave some guy herpes."

"It's not what it sounds like," Chloe says through gritted teeth as popcorn falls from a few of the aca-people's mouths. "I'm clean. The only one that isn't is Tom. Chlamydia. "

Lori Beale gives her daughter a wtf look. "I didn't give it to him! What kind of person do you think I am?" Lori opens her mouth, but Chloe cuts her off, "Don't answer that. What are you even doing here? I told you not to come down here. It's not safe."

"I was told my daughter was in the hospital, and there's a serial killer on the loose. What do you think I'm going to do? I think you should come back home to Florida until this guy is caught."

"Mom, I am twenty-one years old. I am not going back with you no matter what you say. My friends need me here," she says, her mind on all the crap they had been through in the past few months. "Trust me."

"Chloe—"

"UGH! MOM, I'M NOT IN THE MOOD RIGHT NOW PLEASE JUST—" Chloe takes a deep breath, not looking at anyone in the room, knowing they are staring from the blaring silence around her, "Sorry, let's talk about this later. I can't right now."

There's an awkward silence between them all.

"So uh….," Lori Beale says, pursing her lips in that quirky Beale way Chloe does, "Where's the new boyfriend? I wanna meet him. He's so adorable in the pictures you've posted." She looks to Jesse who is now doing the chubby bunny challenge with the popcorn against Amy to avoid the mother/ daughter conversation. "Is that him?"

"God no. Brand and Aubrey went to go get coffee. Jesse is _just _a friend."

Jesse spits out the popcorn, crossing his arms looking totally offended, "What's that supposed to mean? Am I not good enough for you?"

God help her. Where the hell are Brand and Aubrey?

-x

_Of all the people Stacie could have fallen for, it was the Rose Killer? This is going to really mess her up. No, _this _is going to mess all of us up._

Aubrey takes a small step left, so her shoulders are touching Brand's, trying to keep her breath steady. They are screwed. She was too slow, and now that bastard is going to kill them both. They played right into Berry's hands.

"Hands up!" Berry orders.

_Clank, clank, clank_ resounds in Brand's mind over and over as he tries to assess the situation. He and Aubrey side-eye each other. Berry is a trained cop with a gun. If they scream, they're dead. If they try to run, they're dead. Their best hope is to do what Berry says.

Gulping, Brand raises his trembling hands, but Aubrey doesn't. She couldn't. She bends over heaving and gagging like she's going to throw up. _We are so dead._

Officer Berry shoves the barrel of the gun to Brand's head harder, and grabs Aubrey by the back of the neck, pulling her to her feet. "Hey, I said hands up, Posen, or I will blow his fucking head off!" Aubrey clenches her jaw in attempt to choke down vomit, and straightens up, both hands in the air. Brand can see fire in his captain's eyes. Aubrey is great at barking orders, not taking them. He just hopes she will be able to keep that Posen temper at bay.

Berry's eyes stray down Aubrey's toned body in a way that anyone would find alarming. A twisted grin stretches across his face, his free hand grasping at a strand of her hair. "I've always liked the blonde ones," He breathes, pressing his lips against the back of Aubrey's neck.

_What the fuck? This cannot be happening. _ Brand closes his eyes, biting down on his cheek, trying not to go off. If he wasn't currently staring down the barrel of a gun, Berry would be dead. No one talks about his _family_ like that, no matter how much of a pain in the ass Aubrey can be. They just have to grin and bear it though because right now, Berry holds the power. He holds the gun. All they have is Aubrey's stupid habit of keeping her boob cam on her. At least if they die, the cops will know who the Rose killer is.

"You are going to be so much _fun_…" He laughs, his eyes still roaming Aubrey like she is more of a piece of meat than a human being and Brand can hear Berry's breathing becoming more ragged by the second "I have always thought I should just take you alive, but I can't do that here in the open…"

"If you lay one finger on her, I swear to—"

_Wham!_

"BRAND!" Aubrey shrieks.

Pain spreads across the side of Brand's head. He blacks out, not sure if the noise was from the butt of Berry's gun or a bullet.

-x

It has been forty-eight hours—forty-eight hours since Chloe last saw her boyfriend and her best friend alive. Forty-eight hours since she told them goodbye. Forty-eight hours and she can't even remember the last thing she said to them. Brand and Aubrey—the two most important people in her life are nowhere to be found. Her Bella sister Denise is missing too. The killer has them. They're in danger.

And that is the only reason Chloe and Lilly are not in the hospital right now. Cynthia Rose burst in on Lori Beale's interrogation, telling everyone about her phone call with Aubrey.

Aubrey and Brand may even be—

No.

Chloe is a positive person, the one who wakes up in the morning singing really cheesy pop music, much to her broody boyfriend's dismay. She can't believe that he got to them. She can't believe they are dead. She won't.

Chloe had locked herself in the bathroom hours ago. Toothbrush hanging from her mouth, she looks in the unfamiliar mirror. She spits in the sink and rinses her mouth, before wiping the smeared make-up off her face.

So much has changed in the past twenty-four hours. It's almost surreal. Two days ago she was happy- She may have still been dealing with a psycho, but she had her Bellas; she had the admittedly annoying, but somehow also caring Trebles. She had everything, and it was all ripped away when Brey and Brand went for coffee, which now she can't even stand the sight of. She may have ripped a cup away from Bumper five minutes before she found herself locked in this bathroom.

She's stressed, okay? She has done nothing but yell, scream, cry, and tremble for the past two days. She wishes she was joking. Not to mention, Bumper tied up Chloe's mom to a pole with pink fuzzy handcuffs, put a Treble Jacket on her, a dildo in her mouth and took pictures to blackmail Chloe's mom into letting her stay at Barden, because to famous model Lori Beale, it doesn't matter that her daughter is 21 and can make her own decisions. The thing is, Lori does care about ruining her good reputation and what her 22, 000 twitter followers think of her. Chloe should really thank Bumper, even if her mom is totally pissed right now.

So, Chloe is now at the Treble house with the rest of her fellow aca-people. The campus is on lockdown. Classes are cancelled. They are going to have to do the final exams online, and ninety-five percent of the students on campus left for Spring Break and didn't come back. Who in their right mind would with a psycho on the loose and three students missing? There may be a total of fifty people left at Barden.

She thinks back to before they found the dead body, the shower, the auditions, hood night. Aubrey was pretty annoyed back then. Chloe can't believe she burst in on Brand's shower. What's wrong with her? How in the world did Brand not charge her for sexual harassment? She can't believe she called him gay either. He may be bi. The jury is still out on that one, but wow, they were both shamelessly checking each other out in that shower. How Aubrey ever let him in the Bellas was beyond her, but she's so glad it happened. For the first time in Chloe's life, she felt like she really belonged somewhere, and it's all because of a capella and a small DJ that came along with mad lib beats and a cup trick.

That yellow cup.

Great. Now she has an urge to go do something extremely stupid at eleven o'clock at night.

God help her. Again.

-x

Chloe goes to Jesse Swanson's bedroom door. It was different than before. Usually, the smell of popcorn would hit Chloe's nose before she even made halfway down the hallway, but this time, it never did. She knocks on the door. Her eyebrows furrow as she hears muffled sniffles and Harry Potter's voice coming from the inside.

"Jess?"

A good thirty seconds pass before the door opens to reveal a red eyed, puffy faced, snotty Jesse Swanson, who's clothes are wrinkled and who's hair is really greasy. "Chloe," he sniffs, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "You alright?"

"I should be asking you that…"

"…I'll be okay," Jesse chokes. It isn't a convincing statement.

"Listen," Chloe says, "It's late, and I don't feel safe going out alone…but I need to take a trip to the auditorium. It's important to me."

"Of course," he says immediately.

They grab a couple of flashlights and throw on some light jackets before telling everyone in the house exactly where they are about to go, just in case. Chloe pins one of Aubrey's boob cams to her chest, telling Jesse not to judge her.

He just shakes his head.

They walk in a peaceful silence, straining their ears for any sign of threatening movement.

"She made me watch Harry Potter a lot, ya know," Jesse says out of the blue. Chloe can hear the pain in his voice, and she notices he stopped walking. She turns around to look at him through the dark. Two flashlights are the only things lighting up the darkness aside from the pinpricks of light given off by the street lamps in the distance.

It's too late for the sounds of traffic. The only sound that can be heard other than their breathing is a light gust of wind.

Suddenly, there is no threat of a killer, just two friends aching for their loved ones. The killer wouldn't even be in the picture if they didn't know that he has them in his grasp. It is just Chloe and Jesse there alone.

"I know," Chloe says.

He takes a deep breath, and Chloe can tell he's trying not to break down into sobs, "She said that endings couldn't be the best part, because Harry and Hermione, even though they were obviously meant for each other, didn't get together.

Chloe nods, waiting for him to continue.

"She said it was because they were too afraid to cross that boundary. In that tent. She said they should have kissed in that tent, but they were too afraid to ruin their friendship…Chloe, she talked as if they were real, and she never does that."

And Chloe knows why. Aubrey isn't very subtle when she has a secret. It's obvious she has fallen for Jesse, but won't do anything about it because of the oath. Harry Potter is her confession of love. She chose movies to make Jesse understand, because she does that. For some reason, Aubrey was gifted with the ability to empathize and understand underneath that uptight front she puts up to keep herself from getting hurt. Jesse is Harry. Aubrey is Hermione, and she has apparently resigned herself to the friend zone.

Tears rolled down Jesse's face, "I know that look, Chloe. I'm not stupid. I know what she meant by that. But I don't care. She doesn't get to decide that. She wants me too, and I know I'm too pushy. I end up making people uncomfortable. I made Brand uncomfortable. I don't want to do it to her. I won't push her, okay? I'll wait…I'll wait years if I have to. I know I fall too fast, but this time it's different….It's…"

"It's real life, not about movies." Chloe finishes, and she before she could even think, she launched herself at Jesse, knocking him off balance, but he somehow keeps himself steady.

"Whoa, Johnny Bravo biceps, keep the aggressive hugging to a minimum, huh?" he says, letting out a shaky laugh. "Have you ever thought about boxing?"

Chloe shakes her head, laughing too but stops herself. "Come on. I have to get to that auditorium sometime this month."

They make their way to the auditorium and turn on the lights. Chloe spots what she is looking for immediately: sitting on the desk with the same pens in it as earlier this year, as yellow as ever like it is waiting for Chloe to come steal it away, at least that's how she feels about it, is that yellow cup. She dumps the pens out on the desk much like Brand did. She picks it up, brining it tightly to her chest.

And she knows it's stupid. How can a cup help anything, but holding it with her makes her feel like she knows Brand Mitchell is safe somewhere. It is really stupid, and Jesse's eyes are bearing into her, the corner of his lip turned up in a sad smile, because he _knows._ "It's stupid," she voices out loud.

"No, it's not. Not at all," and his voice is firm, like he thinks it's stupid that she thinks the cup thing is stupid.

She smiles, but her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes, and she gazes at her shoes before they head back. The walk back is silent. Chloe just clutches that cup to her, making a mental to never let it go, and to take that St. Patricks Day logo off of it, because people think she's going crazy already. Everyone's concerned about her and Jesse's mental health. And maybe that's warranted. But, it will be even worse if she uses a St. Patrick's Day decorated cup all the time.

She slumps in her bed, falling quickly asleep for the first time in two days, that yellow cup right beside her, not knowing the horrific things that were happening to the two people she loved the most.

-x

The only things Brand Mitchell is aware of—

1\. He's breathing.

2\. He's somewhere damp and dark chained to a wall.

3\. Aubrey is screaming and crying, screams of terror Brand would never wish on anyone, and it's because of whatever the fuck Berry's doing to her.

4\. They have been drugged.

-x

The next day, Chloe Beale finds herself lying in her bed, that cup still at her side, with her phone pressed to her ear.

"Beth, stop trying to cheer me up."

"_Awe, come on. Just tell me. Does he know I taught you how to kiss? Does he know of that hot and steamy kiss we shared in that Jeep?"_

"I swear to—"

"_Does he know you've kissed better than him. I mean, I'm obviously the better of the two of us."_

"You wish," Chloe snorts.

"_You know those two weeks after you dated Tommy Tucker were the hottest two weeks of sex you've had in your entire life!"_

"I'm hanging up now!"

"_Oh my god! He doesn't know, does he? He doesn't know you were with me, and oh my god—you two totally haven't done it yet, have you?"_

"Goodbye."

"_Awwwe, come on, Kate. Give your high school bestie with rocking benefits some info. Brand's going to be just fine. He's tough. You said it yourself."_

"Don't call me Kate, and you don't know if he's okay or not," Chloe finishes, her voice strained.

"_Don't kill the good vibes within you. Have some faith, and you used your middle name when I met you. I'm going to use it until you die," _Beth pauses, "_Except for right now, because I can tell you're hurting, Chloe. Uck, saying that out loud sounds so wrong."_

Just then, a pale, angry-looking Asian chick bursts into Chloe's room, making her juggle her phone. "I'm Conrad's roommate." She sits on the bed without saying another word.

"Okay?" Chloe asks, her hand strays possessively to her yellow cup.

"She asked me to sit with you and tell you to only open the email you're about to get if she's not back within thirty minutes. It's apparently urgent. She said she's been trying to call you, but you're phone's busy."

"Gotta go, Beth. Love you."

"_Love ya too. See you at Lincoln Center. Everyone's coming to see you finally kick some aca-ass. You can thank me later." _

_If there's even going to be a nationals..._

"Why did she send you here?" Chloe asks.

"Do you think I keep track of what that white girl does in her free time? All I know is she was with her albino boyfriend and stumbled upon some information. Whatever it is, it must be bad, because she said she called me, so," she forms air quotes, " it wouldn't incite panic."

"Wow," Chloe sighs.

"You're that girl that's dating Brand Mitchell, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

She shrugs, "I hear his mixes around campus. They aren't completely horrible."

Chloe smiles. She can tell coming from this girl that that's a compliment. "I'm Chloe."

The Asian girl shakes her hand. "Kimmy Jin."

*Forty-five minutes later*

Stacie Conrad tears into the entrance of the Treble House. Knocking over the umbrella stand, tripping up the steps, and sliding across the hardwood floor up into Chloe's room, it's a wonder people couldn't hear her coming from a mile away. When she gets to the room where Chloe and Kimmy Jin are conversing, she starts frantically whispering so fast, no one can really understand what she's saying.

"I WAS AT HIS LOFT, AND WE WERE KISSING. I TASTED AUBREY'S LIPSTICK. OH MY GOD, AND THEN THERE'S THE ROSE RUG, AND I SWEAR I HEARD SCREAMING. OHMYGODOHMYGODOMYGOD!"

Chloe rips across the room and grabs Stacie roughly by both wrists. "Stacie, slow down."

Stacie Conrad takes a deep breath—but she doesn't slow down. She's shaking so hard, if Chloe didn't know she was terrified, she might think Stacie was having a mini seizure. When she spoke, her voice was really high ,"I tasted Aubrey's lipstick on his lips. It's him. Jace is the killer, Chloe. I slept with a serial killer who has slept with like fifty million dead bodies. Oh my gosh, think of the diseases I must have between my legs. Oh my god. Oh my god. I slept with a serial killer. I'm going to die."

"Calm down," Kimmy Jin snaps, "Otherwise, you're going to cause a panic, which is exactly what you didn't want us to do in the first place. What about lipstick? How do you know it was Aubrey's lipstick?"

"Y-You spoke to me. Oh my god, I'm dreaming. I've officially entered a parallel universe. I'm going—I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die."

"Stacie, I need you to calm down," Chloe says. "Take a deep breath." Stacie does as she's told. "Good. Now, tell me how do you know it was Aubrey's lipstick?"

"Aubrey's in love with Jesse….She forgot Unicycle…at least I think. Too many movie nights with him must have done her in," Stacie whispers. "But she won't do anything about it. I was just helping her out."

"YOU HOOKED UP WITH AUBREY?" Chloe couldn't help her shout. Her hand flies to her mouth when Stacie winces. "Sorry."

Stacie nods, still shaking, but her breath has steadied a bit, "I don't view sex as cheating. I was just helping a friend out. She came to me crying about how wonderful Jesse was. I think it was the night after we all slept over at the hospital. She said she couldn't resist it anymore. It was killing her. I offered to help. That's all it was. But no one can forget the taste of that weird French brand of lipstick she gets shipped in. We've gotta do something. Jace has them pinned up underneath his loft. I saw that rose rug, and I just… knew."

Chloe grabs her pink gun from underneath her pillow and cocks it. It's time to do something. "Let's grab Jesse." She looks to her friend's roommate. "Kimmy Jin, you can come to if you want."

"I still can't believe she's speaking to us right now," Stacie mumbles out of the corner of her mouth.

"I don't do fights, cupcake," Kimmy Jin says.

"Right," Chloe says with a curt nod. "Let's go. This cop just messed with the wrong ginger and her family."

God help Jace Berry.

**AN: longer than my usual chapter, huh? I'm going to be honest. I hate this chapter. But, I have stared at it for so long. My goodness. 5am-Johnson knows of my struggle. (btws, I cut what I said I was struggling with. I'm just going to imply it.) I almost cut the chapter where it says Brand knew they were drugged, but I made you wait so long, I thought why not just give you this whole thing? Like, I said, I struggled all the way through this chapter. I am sorry.**


	15. Boom Out

Chapter 15: Boom. Out.

Jesse is curled up on the sex covered desk in the radio station under three comforters they found stashed in Luke's office. All those blankets- and the freshman Treble still has goose bumps. Bumper watches him intently, leaning against one of the shelves. Swanson misses his friends so much he's made himself sick and hasn't been eating much at all.

Bumper figures that he himself would feel the same way if Amy and Donald had been the ones taken. Bumper doesn't understand why Jesse has a thing for Posen. After all, she pukes everywhere, like all the time, but he is concerned for his teammate's well being and doesn't dwell on that. Jesse is supposed to be stacking cds and manning the booth. He's so ill, he's not doing either. After being in rehearsals with Jesse for a year, Bumper knows that is totally out of character.

"I can feel you staring, Bumper," Jesse says, shifting toward the wall and pulling the comforter over his head.

"Do you need me to get you anything, like soup or coff—"

"Bumper," Jesse grumbles, his voice muffled from the Superman blankets covering his face, "You don't have to be nice to try and make up for the fact that you tried to fly to California. The Taco Bell you brought us all made up for it."

"But I wanted to go to L.A. I would have. I was a coward if it wasn't for um," Bumper says, not taking his eyes of his feet. "Professor what's his name, you know the Psychology professor that got suspended. He's not actually a professor. Anyway, he-"

Jesse sits up so fast, he almost falls off the desk, "Professor Judd?"

"Yeah, him. He's with the FBI. He said I was blacklisted from flying since I was in A Capella and important to the investigation or some shit. He also told me not to go back to Barden," Bumper scoffs, "Like I was going to listen to him. Amy is here," he mumbles the Amy part.

Jesse tries to comprehend this information. Professor Judd, the one Brand was so suspicious about, is actually part of the FBI, meaning he was undercover as teacher even before that dead body was found at Barden.

But why?

Something isn't adding up.

Trying to calm his nerves, he grabs his favorite soundtrack. He outcues the current song when it ends and says, "DJ Swanson here filling in for my buddy, DJ Ear Monstrosities. I don't have his mad lib beats or anything, but I try. This one's a throwback going out to him. You might have heard it from the Breakfast Club. You all know what's been going on lately. I just feel this song is appropriate. It's called, "Don't You Forget About Me."

Chloe and Stacie enter the station just as the song begins to play.

-x

Brand and Aubrey are not chained up. They are so drugged, Berry has them both lying on the dirt floor. Brand's filthy arm is around Aubrey, and she is unconscious. They are bruised and bleeding and dirt- caked. Brand's not aware of much, just that he's not going to let Berry get near Aubrey. His hands grasp the fabric of Aubrey' s shirt. His vision is blurry, and the room is spinning, and he imagines this is what it feels like to be tripping on acid. He has to stay awake.

Berry paces the room and keeps throwing glances at the door leading up to the trapdoor, his hand squeezing his gun. He knows Stacie knows and knows Beale will be coming for him. He knows the look of fear and could see it in Stacie's eyes, but for some reason, couldn't kill her. He fucked up. He runs his hand through his hair. All the people he's killed, and he couldn't kill that stupid whore of a college student? Sex has always been his weakness. Everyone has a kryptonite. Lucky for him he knows his.

Beale doesn't trust the cops, though. She'll be coming for him alone. He can take a few dim witted kids. He isn't worried. By his calculations, they will be here in a half an hour. He will kill them all and skip town, get a new identity. His hand strays to his chest where his beloved tattoo is. He knows what to do. He has a contact in Texas . Maybe he will go there and continue his work.

He casts a glance towards Mitchell and Posen. God, Posen was good. She made him feel better than Stacie did. She made him feel powerful. So powerful. He would get rid of them now, but he wanted to make Beale pay for her meddling. He'd kill them both while she watched. Maybe he could even keep Conrad if he played his cards right.

He touches where his tattoo was again, and his lips twist up into a nasty smile. His teacher will be proud. He will be bring their Lord honor.

"Where's the pretty girlfriend, huh, Mitchell?" Berry asks, crouching down to Brand's eye level. Berry smirks as Brand's knuckles go white. Berry taps Brand on the head with a pistol. Brand tries to shove the gun away, falls chin first into the dust. "Her looks aren't going to help her against a gun."

Brand smiles from ear to ear, still in the dirt. Chloe has looks alright, but her looks have nothing on her shot.

Of course Berry doesn't know why Brand Mitchell is smiling. He just thinks it's the drugs. Brand's evil grin never fades though. It stays as he lifts himself to a sitting position again and stares the Rose Killer down. He doesn't say a word, just glares at Berry and keeps a firm hold on Aubrey. Hope that Chloe is coming is enough to keep him awake.

-x

Chloe doesn't know what she expected when she arrived at the station, but it was not that song. Jesse isn't fair. Chloe wasn't prepared. The tears begin falling when Chloe sees Jesse in the booth. DJ Ear Monstrosities.

Chloe chuckles through the tears in spite of herself. Aubrey will have a field day with that name. Bumper is surprised to see Chloe and Stacie. He knows something is up immediately. Their swollen eyes and vacant expressions don't look promising either.

Stacie sees Chloe crying and wraps her in a hug, careful not to touch the sex covered desk. Chloe cries into Stacie's shoulder, practically squeezing the life out of the taller girl.

Jesse looks over, seeing this. He takes of the headphones and heads out of the booth, his arms swinging at his side.

"What's going on?"

Chloe shakes her head like she's trying to shake the tears away. Her face turns serious. Those big blue eyes meet Jesse's brown ones, and she chokes up.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?"

"We know where they are," is all she can get out, wiping tears from her eyes.

That's all Jesse needs to know. Chloe forces down the tears, and tries to pull herself together. There's no time for this. Berry has to pay.

Stacie, Jesse, and Chloe are practically flying from the radio station, (Jesse trying to ignore the nausea) and a clueless Bumper is at their heels.

"Bumper, you don't have to come if you don't want to," Chloe's voice is rough and more authoritative than anyone has ever heard it.

She jumps in the driver's seat of her Prius and buckles her seat belt.

"I'm coming," Bumper says shortly as he gets in the passenger's seat beside her. Jesse and Stacie take the backseat.

Chloe turns to look at the annoying Treble who has made life for the Bellas hell since Chloe's freshman year, "Bumper, you could die."

"I know," he says buckling his own seatbelt.

"You tried to leave, because you could die…"

"I'm well aware of this."

"Fine," Chloe sighs, starting the engine. She rummages around in her purse, looking for her phone. She hands it to Bumper. "Call Dr. Mitchell. Tell him we know where Aubrey and Brand are and tell him to call the FBI." She glances back to Stacie, "Call the cops and tell them to get backup out here."

"But what if the cops are in with Berry, Chloe—"

"We know for certain Professor Judd isn't," Jesse says. "Get him on the phone."

Chloe pulls out of the parking lot, heading straight for Berry. "Jesse get Benji and the rest of the Bellas on the phone as well."

-x

The closer they get to Berry's loft, the more the tension hangs in the air. There is no music, just the sound of the wind and the cars as they pass by.

Well, that, and there's the sound of Fat Amy and Dr. Mitchell freaking out on speakerphone. Stacie put that to a stop quick though, which Chloe kind of wished Stacie didn't because at least their voices took their mind of the fact that they were about to fight a serial killer, one who's killed so many people it was almost unreal.

And Chloe almost couldn't comprehend that. How she is literally bringing a gun to a fight with a serial killer and how her friends might die and some of them might be dead.

And how this isn't a movie. She isn't some hero about to save the day. This is real life, and they could die. And how she is praying to a God she isn't sure exists and how her hands are shaking like mad as she grips the steering wheel.

As Stacie directs her to the loft, Chloe is sure of one thing: This is real.

And she's scared out of her mind. She's never done anything that wasn't considered safe until this year. This year, she barged into her crush's shower. This year, she went out in the middle of the night with said crush. This year, she lied to get him into the Bellas. This year, she fell in love.

She isn't about to lose him to a psycho.

But she can barely hear herself think as her heart tries to escape her chest.

"It's this log cabin up here on the left, Chlo," Stacie says, pointing up ahead. "Pull off the road here, so he can't see us coming."

Chloe takes the key out of the engine, and it dies. Every sound is magnified. Chloe can hear her heart hammering, the doors slamming, and the sounds of everyone breathing. She is trembling, and she's only seventy-five percent sure this isn't a horrible nightmare.

It's hard to get air in as they follow Stacie into the loft once she picks the lock. Stacie really is smarter than they give her credit for. Bumper and Jesse gape though, and Stacie rolls her eyes, "I'm beginning to think you all just think I'm a hooker."

Chloe throws Bumper keys to the Prius, "Go back to the car and stay there, so you can direct the cops to the trapdoor. I'd ask Swanson since he's sick, but his girl is in there, and that would be an unreasonable thing for me to ask of him." Jesse and Bumper nod.

Bumper tightens his grip on the keys, "Yes sir- I mean mam—I mean Beale."

Chloe rolls her eyes, "Just go." They watch him run back towards the car, before they continue on.

Stacie directs them into the room with the rose rug and throws the rug half heartedly to the side. Chloe counts it as lucky that she didn't pull an Aubrey and throw up everywhere. There is a horrible stench coming from that trap door.

-x

They just stare at the trap door and at each other. Jace Berry is under there with Aubrey and Brand and Denise if she isn't dead.

Chloe clenches and unclenches her hand, standing there, gripping her gun. They don't really have a plan, and they don't know how they are going to do this.

Chloe is shaking, not really sure how she is standing up straight right now. She lets out a long breath. They have to be careful. "I brought you all here. I'll go first."

Chloe inhales and exhales slowly. She bends down with great care, her body ready to react and shoot Berry if he jumped out. The trapdoor opened to a set of wooden, dusty, cobwebbed steps that lead down to another door—a green wooden door—the door that quite possibly could lead her to her death. Damn, that was morbid. Positive thoughts, Beale. Positive thoughts. Okay. "God help me," She whispers as she gestures to the others to follow her and takes her first step on the steps—It creaks loud. Chloe pales and raises her gun towards the door. She holds her breath.

No sounds emerge from the next room.

She continues on and Jesse and Stacie follow suit.

"OOf," Stacie misses a step and they tumble down the steps, one on top the other making sounds loud enough for someone down the road to hear them. Chloe is mortified. They all had to be, she thinks. She lifts her gun to the door.

A weak, "CHLOE, NO!" sounds from a familiar voice beyond the green door. Stacie shoves Chloe's raising and hopeful head down just in time, anticipating what's coming.

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

"NO!" Brand screams.

Six shots ring out. That's a full round. Berry has to reload. As quick as she possibly could, Chloe raises herself off of the ground and kicks down the door. She is ready. Adrenaline pulsing through her veins, Chloe goes into a sort of trance and it's like she can see everything in slow motion Berry raises his gun, and Chloe pulls the trigger on her pink gun, aiming for his hand, a mantra going through Chloe's head like, "OHmygooofdshhshpleaseworkpleaseworksshhfgh." It is basically nonsense, but Chloe needs to save her friends.

In what feels like pure luck, but everyone else knows different, the bullet hits the mark, but Berry's gun goes off at the same time, and Chloe sees Berry's gun tumbling through the air and hits the wall on the opposite end of what looks like a torture chamber. Berry's starts cackling on his back, "OOooh, oooh, ooh. Ginger's got fire. I wonder if you would be as fun your blonde friend was."

"You just messed with the wrong ginger, mother fucker," Chloe coughs, and she notices blood trickling through her shirt and crumples to the ground, Jesse's, "YOU BASTARD," is the last thing Chloe hears.

Everything goes black.

_Clank, Clank, Clank._


End file.
